Creative Corner

[columns][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/050b/f/2018/270/7/7/6998_toal_badge_by_soenkan-dcny5e6.png[/img] [nextcol] [size=5][b]The Tale of a Lord: 5[/b][/size] TW: [/columns] She thought he was simply being rude. He spent the entire afternoon busying himself with the thought. She didn’t know. She couldn’t know what he meant. He knocked his head against the broken stone again. A bit of his mane falling into his eyes. His grip on his pearl was so stiff he thought he might shatter it as another cold tingle of unwelcome magic rushed through him. No. No. Just a little longer. But he deserves it. He’s not so special. No one deserves that. Everyone deserves that. He ran circles around himself in the dark. Even from the down in the waterway he could hear the evening bells from the keep toll. So long to wait. So long to fight in the cold and the dark. He slammed his head back again, deepening the groove his horn left in the stone. The pain was intense, but there was little else he could do to remain in control. Remain in control… His mind wandered. If he was losing control… who was he losing it to? Who or what? Himself? And if it was himself than had he ever lost it at all? There was nothing to lose. Nothing to- WhKk! Burning pain replaced the magic’s cold grip once again and Drobal groaned out a noise that echoed down the empty storm sewer. This time there was hardly a moment of clarity after, that tingle working its way back up from the pit of his being. He wouldn’t last very long would he. He threw himself against the stone again.

[columns][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/050b/f/2018/270/7/7/6998_toal_badge_by_soenkan-dcny5e6.png[/img] [nextcol] [size=5][b]The Tale of a Lord: 6[/b][/size] TW: [/columns] The bad memories flowed, sticky and black as when they were first expelled, all rushing back into him as he held the dwarf pearl in his palm. It took all he had not to heft it over the balcony rail and into the stream below. But then there was no telling who might find it, might find his secrets. And now he had another to add. A spiral, long and spindly, who’d become a great deal longer at his hands. The thought of it made him sick to his stomach and the memory of it rushed forth. One more for the dwarf pearl he kept. It grew darker, tantalizingly so. It’s glossy sheen all the more attractive as its bronzy tone deepened. He didn’t bother shaping the thing, every moment holding it drove him mad. Instead it remained lumpy and uneven, now too large to hide in his robes so seamlessly. He frowned at it where it sat on the mantle. It looked so innocent there. Like any other bauble. He stared until he couldn’t stand it any longer. The morning bells began to chime.

[columns][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/050b/f/2018/270/7/7/6998_toal_badge_by_soenkan-dcny5e6.png[/img] [nextcol] [size=5][b]The Tale of a Lord: 7[/b][/size] TW: [/columns] Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Spear after spear buried in canvas and hay. “You’re a very good shot,” Liren interjected from her place some distance away. For his part, Kadrobal hefted another into the target before turning around. His expression was tight. Not all of it was concentration. “I’ve… been doing this a long time.” The squire held out another spear which he ignored. Instead, his claws brushed into the pouch at his side,slipping into the notch left in his pearl. For all he concentrated on it, worked over it again and again, it never felt any shallower. “It’s only a matter of practice.” Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

[columns][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/050b/f/2018/270/7/7/6998_toal_badge_by_soenkan-dcny5e6.png[/img] [nextcol] [size=5][b]The Tale of a Lord: 8[/b][/size] TW: [/columns] Drobal tugged at the tie of his braid, finally pulling the strip of cloth free as he stormed down the hall. A new day, a new fixation. The search for a suitable place to lock himself away had been fruitless once again. So it was back to the waterway beneath the keep. More long hours of contusing himself into a stupor and for what? He almost let himself go right there. What was the point of trying to stop it if he would fail eventually? It was already too la- No. Maybe this would be the day. The day he finally beat this damnable- “My Lord?” He stopped in his tracks, strands of his mane falling in his face as he turned toward one of the castle guard. “Pardon… the intrusion but Lady Liren and Lord Yonekat are waiting for you in the courtyard.” Drobal brushed the strands of hair from his eyes, “Yes of course… I…” His gut twisted with the broiling mix of magic and emotion, “Tell them I’m not feeling well. My sincerest apologies.” “Of course, my lord, but…” the guard bowed, “all due respect, but might it be time to consult a healer for this illness? All the keep hate to see you unwell so often.” “I thank you for your concern. I will… consider....” he took another step toward his chamber, “please, deliver Lady Liren my apologies.”

[columns][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/050b/f/2018/270/7/7/6998_toal_badge_by_soenkan-dcny5e6.png[/img] [nextcol] [size=5][b]The Tale of a Lord: 9 / 10[/b][/size] TW: [/columns] “Presiding this afternoon, Lord Kadrobal of Ruveren,” the procession called as they strode into the room together. Drobal was in his top form, mane clipped into a single flowing braid and studded with flowers from the meadows outside the keep. Robes in his house colors flowed around him and gold bracelets shone about his wrists. He eased into the seat at the table’s head, directly across from High Lord Theolus. Their eyes met a moment before Drobal’s drifted to the corner at his left. A round impression in the stone of the table, a place to rest his pearl. Slowly he reached inside the pouch at his side, covering the blemish in its surface with his palm as he set it in its place. A smooth movement rolled it along as he let go, turning it about until the hole faced down. “Feeling delicate, are we, Kadrobal?” The High Lord laughed, exciting snickers from the other council members. Drobal smiled back, “It is very precious to me as I’m sure you know,” he gestured to Theolus’s own pearl opposite him, “I wouldn’t want to jinx my turn presiding the council, my lord.” “Of course not. Shall we begin?” ------------------------------------------- “I come with word from the king.” Despite all the space around them, the words refused to echo. It was probably for the better. This way he didn’t have to hear it twice. The letter bore the king’s seal. He traced it with a claw, circling the rune of light before he pressed it open. The king’s word, mutable only by Lightweaver herself. “To the Clan of Bournebow,” he read aloud, “I extend my deepest regret at the loss of your own. Sir Tohren served his land well. He was a warrior beyond measure and his disappearance does not spell the end of his story. Know that he is held high among even the exalted in our eyes and in the eyes of the gods above,” he paused as he scanned the next words, “There are workings in motion which we do not know and may not understand, but all is known by the goddess of light and truth. May she light your path.” The scroll sprung closed as he let it go, rolling neatly into its case as he handed it to the sullen imperial. Behind her all the more eyes watched, no joy in any of them. Drobal’s hand fell to his satchel, giving his pearl a brief stroke before reaching past it. “The king,” he began his lie, “also brings a small gift… In payment for Sir Tohren’s service to the realm.” He pressed the bag of gems into her claws alongside the scroll, “It will not bring your son home, but it may help… make things easier.” She stared at the purse as its weight settled in her fingers, “Give… give the king my thanks.” Drobal nodded, “I will ensure he understands your gratitude.”

[columns][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/050b/f/2018/270/7/7/6998_toal_badge_by_soenkan-dcny5e6.png[/img] [nextcol] [size=5][b]The Tale of a Lord: 11[/b][/size] TW: [/columns] “Lord Kadrobal!” “Lord Dashe.” The the two of them stood quietly against the railing for a moment, “I hope you are well?” “As well as I may be,” the other replied, “and the same to you. You'd been struggling with illness so we hear…” Drobal frowned, “yes I am lucky to have recovered so quickly.” “Very lucky indeed. For more than that.” The frown deepened. “oh don't give me that. You've gotten so much, you’re very handsome. Lord of Salicei, you have the most wondrousn keep in Ruveren. You have Lady Liren…” Drobal couldn't help but turn in surprise, the assertion pulling him away from his staring across the meadows. “Don't be silly. I-” “Oh come now. You can't not have known. She will likely ask your wing any day now” Dashe leaned against the railing joining Drobal in staring into the field of light’s breath, “half the council thinks you weren't sick at all… that you'd stolen away to practice your catch.” “If only you'd seen me then. I assure you I wasn't practicing a mating flight… although perhaps I should…”

[columns][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/050b/f/2018/270/7/7/6998_toal_badge_by_soenkan-dcny5e6.png[/img] [nextcol] [size=5][b]The Tale of a Lord: 11 / 13 / 14[/b][/size] TW: / [/columns] Morning bells again. Kadrobal had no need of them. He had been up for hours. Still in his night robe he perched in the balcony, staring at his pearl as the sun crested over the hills. His thumb traced over the seam left in its smooth surface. By then the hole that plagued him so had been reduced to a mere divot by his efforts, and the crack that came with it was long gone… or perhaps it wasn't. He rubbed against the ghost of it again. It was almost as if the fracture persisted deep d / own, much more visible now in the golden glow of daybreak. A void. A split that manifested itself in a subtle blue mark just beneath the perfect surface. It was a tiny thing but it felt like a yawning chasm. The bells stopped. Drobal turned his eyes southward to the small town outside his wall. Looking away didn't help the sinking cold of fear. ------------------------------------ Hodhel didn't last very much longer. The imperial lay chained in the cistern, any sounds they made drowned by the rush of rain water as the basin slowly filled. Drowned as he himself would soon be. Meanwhile Drobal paced above. “They miss you,” he found himself saying. “They all miss you.” The dwarf pearl in his claws felt as though it may burst from the tightness of his grip. It was hard to do, but turning away he began to feel the sickness in his gut for what it was. “and they'll continue to do so I suppose.” He wasn't truly sure if his own. Voice could be heard over the rushing flow. Did it matter? The more he spoke the more painful it was. The familiarity of it. Hodhel was dying. They both were. But it would be worse if- “We're both cursed, you and I,” he raised his spear, moving to the edge of the filling well. “We never should have met.” Agony. ----------------------------------------------------- It wasn’t until the knock on the door came that he finally remembered it. His claws wrapped around the dwarf pearl, snatching it from the mantle as he swept to the door. A swift roll sent it to rest where part of the outer wall had fallen in, safely concealed behind the broken masonry. “Lady Liren,” Drobal said as the guard at her side stepped back, “I’m sorry for the state of the keep, I haven’t been in much of a state to keep things tidy.” She returned his smile, though hers was much more genuine. He couldn’t help but feel all the more off in comparison. “It makes no difference,” Liren said, trotting into the wide chamber as gracefully as ever, “Ruins are imperfect. That is part of what makes them lovely.” Now they both smiled. “But you are both,” he ventured. The way she turned about to look at him, “Perfect and lovely.” She sighed, taking his face in her claws. “You, sap,” she laughed, “No one is perfect, but we can come close.”