The Wars of Lohan--A Story by Two

[HobbitGirl]

This story is going to be written by two people: Kailita and myself. We’ve had this idea swimming around in our heads for some time now, and we’ve decided to write our rough draft here, on the Forum. Please don’t post in this thread. If you have any comments, questions, or constructive criticisms, please PM either or both of us. We would love to hear from you! Thanks.





"Filth! Tell us where he is!"

The Pakelan captain punched the young woman again, and covered in blood, grime, and bruises, she fell onto the floor of the cabin. The red-haired nineteen-year-old got to her feet once more, and stood defiantly facing her captors, panting.

"You've got cheek, Princess Zesprin," the captain said. "I'll have to beat it out of you." He snapped his fingers and two burly Pakelans grabbed the princess and stuffed her into a chair. She struggled against them, but she was weakening and at last they succeeded in tying her to the chair.

Zesprin was furious with herself and with her captors. She had been stupid to be so careless as to venture off alone into places that were once hideouts of Nethley's forces. It had been two years since Nethley's fall from power, but still. And these Pakelans...she would make them pay for the way they had treated her. Zesprin clenched her fists, wishing she could get hold of her sword.

"Now for the last time, Princess," the Pakelan captain said harshly, "where is the King Jentro?" In reply, Zesprin spit into his face. "Why you little insolent...you'll pay for that!" The captain nodded to one of his beefy subordinates, and the pale Pakelan went next to Zesprin's bound arm and twisted her index finger until a sickening cracking sound could be heard. Zesprin gritted her teeth. "Where is he?" the captain said, sticking his ugly face in front of the princess's. "Where is your brother? Where is Jentro?"

Zesprin looked up at the Pakelan, her nose wrinkled against his foul breath and her face contorted in rage. "Do you want to live a long, happy life, Pakelan?" she said softly, her voice trembling in fury. "Well that's too bad, because I'm going to kill every one of you for this. This is an act of war against Magdala, one that you will not get away with. You have captured and tortured a member of the royal family in a time of peace and when Magdala has not expressed any hostility towards Pakela. My brother will not be able to hold me back. I will come for you."

The captain laughed a gurgling, disgusting chortle. “But who's going to come for you, carrot-top? No one knows you're here. How can you come for us if we still have you?" He drew his sword and struck Zesprin across the forehead with the hilt. As she lost consciousness the princess of Magdala thought, Fireball, please help us now. And everything went black.



*************************************************

Kelsey stood in her backyard, the weight of her left foot on her pointed toes and the weight of right foot balanced on her heel. Talkida, she thought to herself. The art of being able to focus on everything. Create distractions so that you may be aware of more. She took a deep breath. Ok, I know I can only pay attention to a few things at a time, but I must train myself to focus on everything. Kelsey took another deep breath. The wind is gently blowing through the quaking aspen in front of me. The air smells like smoke. The air tastes like barbecue sauce. Is someone having a barbecue? She turned her head slightly to the right, towards the mayor’s house. Yes! I can hear the sounds of happy conversation. I can smell the burning hotdogs. I can taste the barbecue ribs. What I wouldn’t give for some baby backs right now…Wait! What was that? A bird flew out of my aspen! Darn it, Likasevita, you must focus on everything! Kelsey sighed once more. Someone as absent-minded as me will probably never learn to achieve true Talkida. Well, I’ll just try again tomorrow. Now for step two.

Likasevita picked up her short staff which was leaning against the outside wall of her house. The fifteen-year-old girl fingered the staff, turning it over in her hands. It was three feet long and three-fourths of and inch in width, and little more than a sanded -down stake, but Kelsey loved it dearly. To her it was her connection to her old life in Fallbrook and a reminder of her best friend that still lived there. Someday, the girl thought, I’ll be a warrior, and I’ll have a stronger, better staff. Her name will be Waverush. But no staff can ever mean as much to me as this one.

Kelsey held the staff in its middle and spun it in her fingers. She assumed the battle stance that she had practiced, leaned forward, and immediately launched her attack on her invisible foes. She swung her staff through the air, and in one movement, changed hands behind her back and dealt another blow. “Take that!” she shouted aloud. “And that!” And one of these! Ha! Hey-ah! HA!” Likasevita continued to charge, jump, dart, spin, swing, and stab at her invisible foes until she imagined they all lay groaning on her patio, nursing various invisible bruises. “Aiyah Likasevita!” she shouted in Kachitish, “atti aiyah ishina rassar dien zua!” “I am Likasevita!” she had said, “and I am not afraid of you!”

Kelsey imagined that one more foe was left standing. The assumed her battle stance once more and charged him. She jumped into the air, bringing her staff upwards, and attempted a midair spin, but…

“Ow!” Kelsey shouted falling on her butt. “I can never get that stinking uppercut right!” After standing up and rubbing her bruised dignity, Likasevita check her watch. “Wow,” she muttered to herself, “I’ve been practicing for half an hour.” She shielded her eyes as she looked towards the hot, summer sun beating down upon her. Panting and sweaty, Kelsey sought the cool shadiness of her wall. She took a sip from her water bottle sitting there, then sat down, leaning against the wall. Then, with a gentle breeze playing across her face and making soothing sounds in the quaking aspen tree, Kelsey dozed off.

[Kailita]

Bethany sighed in frustration, narrowing her amber eyes and muttering to herself. The auburn haired fifteen year old was crouched in her garden, soil all over her hands, her jeans, and the front of her shirt. But that wasn't what was bothering her. It was her plants. Try as she might, she just couldn't make the right ones grow. She had plenty of pretty but insignificant plants growing, such as daisies and tomato plants...but the ones she really needed - the ones that were necessary for healing mixtures - just refused to sprout.

"Ishina Li," she sighed in Kachitish, shaking her head at the barren patches of dirt. "Earth soil just doesn't have enough life in it to support these plants."

She closed up her seed packets and tucked them back into the black cloth bag with the purple drawstrings that she affectionately called her healing bag. In it she stored seeds, plants, roots, buds…different blends of which she could combine to make mixtures that could heal a person’s wounds if the right plants were used and administered correctly. The hard part was, the plants that she really needed weren’t found easily on Earth. She needed Kachitish and Magdalanian plants…but of course those were inaccesable…considering that the Kachita territories and the country of Magdala weren’t located on Earth.

Bethany’s oldest cousin Constance had always told her and her younger cousins stories of a far away place where the air was pure and magic coursed freely through the land and its people. A place where castles and dragons, giants and dwarves, warriors and healers still existed. Bethany used to listen to those stories for hours, and often her friend Kelsey would join her. The two used to leave Constance and the other cousins to imagine and talk about what life would be like if they could get to that other place, how wonderful it would be. When Constance had confided in them that she had once gotten into Magdala and explored the land, the two girls had been elated and immediately wanted to know if they too could somehow leave the boundaries of Earth and look into this new place. But Constance had told them that the only way they could enter was if Fireball, the dragon guardian of Magdala and the world it belonged to, summoned them. Since then, Bethany and Kelsey had dreamed about being called into Magdala by Fireball someday…a dream that they both held tightly to, even after Kelsey moved away.

Thinking about her sprightly friend brought a smile to Bethany’s face. Kelsey…always ready for a fight or an adventure…it had always been like that. Someday, Bethany knew, her friend would make a good warrior. She just needed the right kind of training. And that was one of the things that Bethany did not know how to give. She was a healer, a pacifist. She knew how to work in the fray of a battle…but being part of that fray was a completely different matter.

Without bothering to brush the dirt off herself, Bethany stretched out on her back and closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun gently beaming down and the soft grass beneath her. It wasn’t too long before she slipped into slumber.

[HobbitGirl]

Kelsey awoke on her back, her eyes still closed and her face hot from the sun beating down upon it. She had a splitting headache, but she had no idea why. I must've fallen sideways when I was sitting up and hit my head on the brick patio...or not? she thought. Even in her head the idea of not being waken by konking her head on the ground was ludicrus. Kelsey rubbed her eyes beneath her glasses, opened them, sat up and yawned. When she saw where she was she stopped in mid-yawn.

Kelsey was sitting in a small, open, grassy space surrounded by tall trees. Looking past the trees she saw that under thier canopy little light met the forest floor. Birds of many kinds that Kelsey had and had not heard were singing merrily. Her waterbottle and her staff were sitting in the grass next to her. The sun was high overhead, and Kelsey thought that odd, for it was in the same postion as when she fell asleep, as if it had not moved at all. For a moment Kelsey didn't move, but took in everything that was around her, trying to make sense of it through the pain and sleep in her head.

Finally it clicked. The realization startled Kelsey so that she shouted out to the birds and trees, "Holy guacamole! I'm in Magdala! Constance was right!" It all makes sense! she thought. It's just like Constance said. When her mom went to Magdala, she woke up in a forest with a huge headache. And the thing with the time distortion is here too. At least some time had to have passed when I was sleeping, so the sun had to have moved. Unless, that is, I was brought to another world, and in the comings and goings between worlds time is distorted. I am so in Magdala! Kelsey thought gleefully.

Looking around one more time, Kelsey spotted a path some way into the trees. I might as well, she thought happily, and picking up her waterbottle and staff, started on the trail.

[Kailita]

Bethany awoke to the rustling of a gentle breeze around her. The air had grown cooler…she could no longer feel the warmth of the sun beating down upon her. Stirring, her eyes still closed and her healing bag still slung over one arm, she wondered how long she had slept…and why her head was pounding in such a severe, cacophonous manner. For what it was worth, she was glad the sun had disappeared for a bit…the coolness of the air was already helping to ease her harsh headache.

Then she opened her eyes and stood up. At first the sight didn’t completely register with her mind. The towering trees in shades of color ranging from a pastel yellowish-green to serene jade to the deepest of emerald; the vast stretch of foliage- and tree-covered land that spread as far as she could see; the slight but distinct feeling of something…something more…in the atmosphere. There was no way she could take it all in at once.

And she didn’t try to. Immediately, the fifteen year old fell back down to her knees, staring up at the wall of trees all around her, amber eyes huge. There was only one explanation for this…one completely crazy explanation…but at the same time, the only logical one.

“I don’t believe it,” she breathed. “I’m…I’m in…” She paused, holding her breath, afraid that if she finished the sentence, she might wake up from the glorious dream. But as she waited there on her knees, feeling her heart beating wildly in her chest, soaking up the crisp freshness of the forest air, letting the wind catch her hair up and blow it back behind her…she knew that this was no dream.

“I’m in Magdala,” she whispered, eyes aglow.

In that instant, a compelling force – namely a human body – drove her forward, causing her to fall flat onto her face in a very uncomfortable position. Someone, as she realized later when she had time to think back on it, had leapt onto her from out of nowhere. And the next thing she knew, she was staring into a patch of soft green grass with the weight of a human body on her legs. Kicking and twisting her body around, she managed to roll onto her back and started to back away…but she didn’t get very far. She froze as soon as she felt the cold, sharp tip of a spear resting right below her chin. Then, very slowly, she brought her eyes up to look at the person holding the spear.

He was a dark skinned young man with coal black hair and deep black eyes like twin tunnels. They were strange, but intriguing eyes, lit with a mysterious sort of fire. His face was drawn into a scowl, but those fascinating eyes were alert nonetheless, taking in everything at once. And it was those eyes that made things click for Bethany.

“You’re…you’re a Kachita!” she blurted out, despite the spear tip at her throat.

The man lifted one eyebrow ever so slightly. His eyes studied hers closely for a few silent moments.

“Indeed,” he replied at last, his voice rich with an accent that could be most closely compared to a Spanish/Italian accent of Earth. “And who, paquita, are you?”

Much to Bethany’s relief, he removed the spear point from her neck, making it much easier for her to think and speak.

“Aiyah taseem Bethany…” she said, trying not to stutter. She spoke in Kachitish, the tongue of the Kachita people, a language she and Kelsey had picked up from Constance and her stories. She had studied it for a couple of years and spoke what she knew of it fluently.

The Kachita, though he did not smile, seemed pleased at her smooth accent. This encouraged her, and she hurried on with some excitement, still speaking in Kachitish. “I come from Earth…the land of Constance and her mother Lydia.” Then, not waiting for a suspicious look, she added, “Truthfully!” She spread out her arms to show him her plain T-shirt, the sweatshirt tied around her waist, and her jeans, which were still soiled with the dirt from her garden. “Look at my clothes if you don’t believe me…”

The man’s eyes had now taken on a shrewd, calculatory look. Though he said nothing for a few good long moments, Bethany could tell the wheels in his head were turning rapidly.

“From Earth…” he repeated in Kachitish. “Tell me then, child of Earth…do you know why Fireball has opened the great gap to bring you from your world into ours?”

Bethany hesitated…then shook her head. She didn’t know. A corner of the man’s mouth turned up just the slightest bit, in what could have been called the very beginning of a smile, to use the term “smile” loosely.

“I believe that I might. You are certainly not a mind slave, little Earth daughter. Come…we must show you to the Council. Follow me.”

He turned abruptly and headed deeper into the forest, making no sound as he went. Bethany was a bit confused, but completely excited. And…having nowhere else to go…she followed behind him.

I am following a KACHITA… she thought to herself, hardly able to contain her elation. This is so cool!

[HobbitGirl]

Kelsey walked along the forest path, humming a little tune with a spring in her step. She was all smiles; she smiled when she saw a shaft of light stab through the canopy, she laughed when a squirrel or a rabbit burst out of the bushes to cross the path, and when the birds sang, she sang along with them. How cool is this? she thought gleefully. Walking through a Magdalainian forest! Or maybe it's the Kachita forest...where in this world am I, anyhow?

Kelsey stopped and looked around her. She tried to bring to mind all the things that Constance had said about the lay of that land. Westernmost was Magdala, bordered by the sea. East and south of there were the Kachita Lands; the Forest to the east and the Highlands to the southeast. And then, east of the Kachita Forest were the uncharted lands, which could contain any number of forests. Concern flashed across Kelsey's face as she thought of all these things, trying to puzzle out where she might be. Well, just standing here isn't going to do any good, she thought. She continued on the path as she had before, except now she was deep in thought instead of laughing.

Eventually, as they always did whenever she thought of Magdala, Kelsey's thoughts turned to Bethany. She missed her friend dearly, and always dreamed of visiting her again whenever she could. Suddenly Kelsey thought of something Bethany had once said about the both of them, and going to Magdala. "If we go there, we'll go together." A pang of sadness hit Kelsey.

"Palinta, where are you?" she whispered.

As if in answer to her question, Kelsey spotted a large patch of sunlight through the trees ahead. Hoping for any place where she might strike out to find Bethany, Kelsey rushed ahead to investigate. What she saw when she burst out of the trees took her breath away.

Kelsey had run right into a wall of grey rock that towered about five stories over her head. The rock's sheer face ran as far as she could see in either direction. Off to her right she saw that the cliff's face became crumbly and it's height began to diminish as her eyes followed it more. Kelsey rushed off that way, hoping to find some place where she could climb up the rock face and get a better veiw of the land. She ran in the narrow alley between the trees and the rock, her eyes glued to the top of the cliff to watch how much it sloped down as she went. She stopped at a spot where the rock face was riddled with crags and bumps and it was only about as tall as her house. Perfect, Kelsey thought, rubbing her hands together to get ready for the climb. When was the last time I climbed something this high without a rope? the girl thought, a little worriedly. It should be easy enough to get up, though. It's not very exposed here.

Kelsey grabbed a projection on the cliff's face, then hoisted herself up off the ground to stick her foot in a horizontal crack. She slowly and cautiously made her way up the rock, using every crack and imperfection in the cliff as a hand or foothold. Her confidence was high; she had done this sort of thing many times before, but she was still nervous without a rope to support her. Finally the top was within reach. Kelsey was running out of footholds. She ended up looking like a spider sprawled out as she had to bring her foot up a little higher than she liked to get it on good hold. Kelsey reached for the cliff's top, and using her too-high foothold, pushed and hoisted her torso over the top. She strambled to get the rest of her body onto the ledge on top, puffing and panting afterwards. She lay for a moment on the bare rock shelf, savoring a genlte breeze that cooled her.

After her short rest Kelsey stood up and brushed herself off. Her hopes had come true and she could indeed see much from where she was. The veiw was dissapointing, though, for all she could see besides another cliff rising above and behind her was the forest stretching to each horizon. She strained her eyes for any sign of smoke rising from civilization, but to no avail. Defeated and tired, Kelsey slumped up against the rock wall to her back.

Kelsey stared blankly at her hands in her lap. Tears tried to come but wouldn't. How could she find Palinta in the middle of nowhere? Now more than ever she wished her friend were nearby. Bethany always had some comfort to offer for whatever situation. For a while Kelsey just sat there, slumped up against the wall, hope depleated and overcome with dispair.

A sudden thought stirred her heart. I can't lose hope! What's wrong with me? I've never lost hope that I might come to this world, and now that I'm here I've given up. No way! I won't give up now! She stood up, a fierce, but sad determination in her eyes. "Ok, so now what?" she said to herself. She stood for a minute on the cliff-shelf, staring out at the sea of trees with her blue-green eyes. A swift breeze rippled aross the narrow shelf, whipping Kelsey's long, brown-auburn hair behind her. She closed her eyes and listened to the wind sing through the forest below her.

The wind had inspired something in her. She wished she could sing along with the wind as she had tried to sing with the birds. And, having nothing better to do, Kelsey sang. She sang with all her might, the words coming unbidden from her heart to her lips:

"Bright things are failing; a Shadow dims the Light
The Black Hand covers many things with his might.
But the world will not fall so long as those who stand
Have the strength and will to stand up to the Hand.
Even if it takes thier life we know they'll try
For we know this will pass by and by."

She sang and she sang, and her words reverberated through the forest.

[Kailita]

Doubts were beginning to arise in Bethany’s mind as she followed closely behind the dark Kachita man who was confidently leading the way through the dense forest. She had found a Kachita. That was all fine and good. And she was going to see the Kachitish Council. That was all peaches and cream as well. But something seemed slightly off.

For one thing, the Kachita whom she was traveling with – whose name she still did not know – did not seem to be the most amicable of people. In fact, he seemed entirely skeptical and somewhat stiff. He hadn’t spoken to her at all in the half hour they had been walking. She had expected more of a welcome from a Kachita; Kachitas were supposed to be the warmest, friendliest people in this world, after all.

The other thing that was nagging heavily at her mind was the matter of Kelsey. Where was she? She had to be here somewhere…the two of them had always known that they would come together. But even if Kelsey was here…she could be anywhere. Magdala, Lyverby, the Enchanted Woods, or…Bethany’s eyes widened as she got a horrible thought. What if Kelsey had somehow ended up in Pakela? Or on Skull’s Island or the Lonely Isles? She sent a silent prayer up that that would not be the case; she knew Kelsey would not fare well in environments such as those. The auburn haired fifteen year old fought down a sigh. She didn’t want to be gloomy…she was in the Kachita Forest, after all, a place she had always dreamed of going to…but she was so confused and wasn’t expecting to get any help soon.

But all her uncertainties evaporated as she heard the very welcome sound of children’s laughter and two Kachitas burst through the foliage. It was impossible to mistake them for anything other than Kachitas – their ebony black hair, dark skin, and sparkling eyes gave them away. The older one, a girl around Bethany’s age, stopped abruptly as soon as she saw the stern Kachita man, lowering her head in what looked like a gesture of reverence. But the younger child, a little boy of four or five, ran unabashedly forward, arms outstretched.

“Zetunei! Zetunei!” he cried happily. It was a word Bethany recognized well: the happiest and most enthusiastic of Kachitish greetings. She grinned.

“Zetunei, paquito!” she returned as the boy approached her. “Kirrae fauhone zua?”

The boy replied to her simple question of “How are you?” with a flurry of Kachitish that she could never hope to understand, but his innocent delight filled her with happiness. The Kachita girl stepped forward with a smile.

“Lospay,” she said pleasantly - another Kachitish greeting, one more uniform and reserved than zetunei. “Zua yamei Kachitish?”

“Ta chali,” Bethany replied, smiling back. “Only a little. Do you speak English? Er…Magdalanian?”

The girl’s smile turned apologetic and she shook her head, understanding the question though she didn’t seem to understand the words. “Aiyah ishina yamei Magdalanian…”

The man cleared his throat audibly, seeming to want the focus back on himself again. The girl immediately gave him her attention, but the little boy had stepped forward and fastened himself to Bethany’s leg in an affectionate manner, as if he had known her all his life. Bethany smiled widely and picked up the small, endearing boy as if he weighed nothing, hoisting him onto her hip. Here was the Kachita welcome she had been waiting for!

“Ahem…” the man cleared his throat once more, pointedly looking towards Bethany and the boy. Once he had their attention, he spoke in Kachitish. Bethany knew right away that he was overestimating her knowledge of their language. She could only understand a few words…"girl"…"woods"…"council"…

When the man had finished, she timidly asked, “Umm…sorry…do you think you could repeat that in Magdalanian? I…still have a lot to learn about Kachitish…”

The man gave a sigh that sounded somewhat exasperated, and Bethany tried not to cringe, feeling like she was being a burden. But nevertheless, the man briefly restated what he had said, this time in a language she understood.

“Since you are new here,” he said slowly and distinctly, his rich accent coating every word, “and we know very little about you, we must take you to the Kachitish Council. They will decide what is to be done.”

Bethany knew a little about the Kachitish Council. It was an assembly of the fifty wisest people in the Kachita lands, who were elected once every five years by the people. She hoped that they would understand and believe the very little that she knew.

The man turned and began to press deeper into the forest, to where the rest of the Kachita community was hidden away. The Kachita girl immediately began to follow him…but she slowed down and turned back around when she sensed Bethany’s hesitance.

“Ishina haupex,” she said with a reassuring smile. “Tannako contei cotida romas atti rassárito, yas ito contei fé shinti Sano.”

Bethany didn't understand much of what the Kachitish girl said…but she did understand the first two words. Ishina haupex…don’t worry. She smiled back at the girl, then nodded and followed the two Kachitas further into the forest, the little Kachita boy still happily set on her hip.

[HobbitGirl]

The sun had nearly set, and Kelsey was busy pacing back and forth on the shelf, grumbling to herself. She felt pretty stupid at this point. She had been filled with hope and running around based on this hope. Hope was by no means a bad thing, but she was mentally slapping herself that she hadn't been busy trying to adapt to her new environment. From what she could see, there were no human settlements, and the chances of finding a village or encampment in a forest this huge were pretty slim. She should have been hunting for a source of fresh water and some shelter, and once she had established that, try to find some means of food. She desperately wanted to find Bethany, but sitting here up on this shelf wasn't doing any good. That was all she had been doing the whole time: sitting, singing, and reminiscing about old times with her friend. I think it's time to snap into action, she thought. But it wouldn't hurt to get one last look.

Kelsey shaded her eyes against the sunset as she looked out over the massive forest, studying every detail she could see. Thank goodness for glasses, she thought. If I were born in Magdala who knows where I'd get them. Bloody nearsightedness makes me blind as a bat.

She thought she saw something on the very edge of the horizon, silhouetted by the sunset. She blinked, did a double take, and looked again. There it was again. She looked a third time. Now she was sure of it. She slapped herself on the forehead. "Kelsey, zua ishina neshone, paquita! How did you not see that before, you dip-wad!" Stretching from the horizon into the sky there was a pencil-thin trickle of smoke; the smoke of a campfire. The only reason why she was seeing it now was because the sunset was making a visible silhouette of it, and that it was so very far away.

Kelsey stopped berating herself, stood up straight, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She grinned. Well then, that would be the place to go. She opened her eyes and studied the column of smoke intently, memorizing the direction in which it lay. She tossed her water bottle, now empty from half a day of sipping at it, off the story-high cliff along with her staff, and began the slow and laborious climb down.

Since climbing down is much harder than climbing up, especially without a rope, Kelsey had about fifteen feet to go when she suddenly shouted, "Screw this!" She released her holds on the rock face, spun in midair, and landed with both hands and feet on the ground. She picked up her things and started off towards the smoke.

Well, that was a pretty savvy maneuver, she thought to herself, until when she started walking a splinter of pain went through her ankle. She laughed at herself, and then started up her song again that she had made up on the cliff-top, letting her voice ring through the darkened woods.