her face onto the marble floor, but managed to stay upright with wild swinging of her arms. “Ooops.”
Lousa laughed.
Chapter 6
Unerus dangled by one hand from the rocky overhang, kicked his feet, and dropped rocks towards the thousands of jay nests along the face of the cliff below. Each time one of the rocks skittered through the nests the birds took to wing and circled around. It didn’t take them long to find the cause of the disturbance and within a few minutes dozens of the creatures swooped low at the young boy with terrible squawks from their sharp beaks, eyes beady, and wings that came closer and closer to the boy. Eventually Unerus clambered back to the top of the outcrop that led to the sheer drop where a rock memorial had written words on a bronze plaque. The first day at the site the boy had read it as he explored the area and he knew that it commemorated a young man named Iv Heliophanus who tried to leap from that very point onto the back of a passing Griffon during migration season. Hazlebub explained to him that the attempt was made apparently on a wager although more likely because the boy wanted to impress a young maiden from a nearby farmstead. It was the sort of romantic story that puzzled Unerus, barely eleven years of age, whose interest in girls only just vaguely awakened although he knew that his sister would enjoy it greatly.
As he rounded the top of the cliff he spotted the two figures on their way up the face of the large hill. The distance was too great for him to make out any facial features but the size of the smaller one and the way the larger one moved gave him the realization that it was Lousa and his sister. He stood and watched them for a moment until they passed up the trail and under an overhang and thus out of his view and only then did he sprint towards the cave where Shamki, Hazlebub, Humbort, and the ghost idled away the time playing dice games that the tall simpleton seemed to win all the time. Unerus, an accomplished dice player himself, knew that Humbort cheated somehow but couldn’t spot the method.
He arrived in the cave with a great rush and saw that things hadn’t changed at all. Humbort washed some clothes in the big basin that they brought in from town yesterday with water fetched from the nearby stream, Hazlebub stood in the corner and rehearsed some enchantment or another her movements matched to the rhythm of the words, the big half-orc Shamki did his strange little ritual of movement that didn’t seem to have to do with swordplay but that the warrior swore was responsible for his skill with the blade, and the ghost hovered over the Staff of Naught staring at it intently as if unable to fathom its true nature.
“Lousa and Ariana are coming!” shouted the boy loudly the words echoed off the cave walls and reverberated throughout the area.
“My ears,” shrieked Hazlebub and clapped her hands over her them. “You don’t have to yell in here, the acoustics are just fine.”
“Lousa’s coming,” said Humbort as he began to frantically look through the pile of clean clothes. “Where is my green shirt?”
“I hope this means they’ve made some progress into finding out more about this staff,” said Khemer. “My memory is so clear in some things but so foggy in others. I wish I could help more.”
Shamki continued his snake like swaying and hand movements and apparently paid no attention to the fact that visitors were due to arrive any moment.
Unerus looked around for a place to sit and settled on the rock pile in the northwest corner that they used as a sleeping area, lay down with a feigned yawn, and closed his eyes. Moment later Lousa and Ariana burst into the cave, “Surprise!”
No one was surprised.
“Uney!” squealed Ariana and ran over to her brother. He blinked his eyes sleepily but hugged back just as hard as she flew into his arms. “I missed you; I’ve never been away from you so long. Lousa is teaching me to be a lady but I hate
Lousa laughed.
Chapter 6
Unerus dangled by one hand from the rocky overhang, kicked his feet, and dropped rocks towards the thousands of jay nests along the face of the cliff below. Each time one of the rocks skittered through the nests the birds took to wing and circled around. It didn’t take them long to find the cause of the disturbance and within a few minutes dozens of the creatures swooped low at the young boy with terrible squawks from their sharp beaks, eyes beady, and wings that came closer and closer to the boy. Eventually Unerus clambered back to the top of the outcrop that led to the sheer drop where a rock memorial had written words on a bronze plaque. The first day at the site the boy had read it as he explored the area and he knew that it commemorated a young man named Iv Heliophanus who tried to leap from that very point onto the back of a passing Griffon during migration season. Hazlebub explained to him that the attempt was made apparently on a wager although more likely because the boy wanted to impress a young maiden from a nearby farmstead. It was the sort of romantic story that puzzled Unerus, barely eleven years of age, whose interest in girls only just vaguely awakened although he knew that his sister would enjoy it greatly.
As he rounded the top of the cliff he spotted the two figures on their way up the face of the large hill. The distance was too great for him to make out any facial features but the size of the smaller one and the way the larger one moved gave him the realization that it was Lousa and his sister. He stood and watched them for a moment until they passed up the trail and under an overhang and thus out of his view and only then did he sprint towards the cave where Shamki, Hazlebub, Humbort, and the ghost idled away the time playing dice games that the tall simpleton seemed to win all the time. Unerus, an accomplished dice player himself, knew that Humbort cheated somehow but couldn’t spot the method.
He arrived in the cave with a great rush and saw that things hadn’t changed at all. Humbort washed some clothes in the big basin that they brought in from town yesterday with water fetched from the nearby stream, Hazlebub stood in the corner and rehearsed some enchantment or another her movements matched to the rhythm of the words, the big half-orc Shamki did his strange little ritual of movement that didn’t seem to have to do with swordplay but that the warrior swore was responsible for his skill with the blade, and the ghost hovered over the Staff of Naught staring at it intently as if unable to fathom its true nature.
“Lousa and Ariana are coming!” shouted the boy loudly the words echoed off the cave walls and reverberated throughout the area.
“My ears,” shrieked Hazlebub and clapped her hands over her them. “You don’t have to yell in here, the acoustics are just fine.”
“Lousa’s coming,” said Humbort as he began to frantically look through the pile of clean clothes. “Where is my green shirt?”
“I hope this means they’ve made some progress into finding out more about this staff,” said Khemer. “My memory is so clear in some things but so foggy in others. I wish I could help more.”
Shamki continued his snake like swaying and hand movements and apparently paid no attention to the fact that visitors were due to arrive any moment.
Unerus looked around for a place to sit and settled on the rock pile in the northwest corner that they used as a sleeping area, lay down with a feigned yawn, and closed his eyes. Moment later Lousa and Ariana burst into the cave, “Surprise!”
No one was surprised.
“Uney!” squealed Ariana and ran over to her brother. He blinked his eyes sleepily but hugged back just as hard as she flew into his arms. “I missed you; I’ve never been away from you so long. Lousa is teaching me to be a lady but I hate
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