I hope you enjoy the story (and that it doesn't totally confuse you) :)
A Lesson in Nayrl
Tender dreams were shaken by the sudden intrusion of a harsh voice and hard ground beneath his back as a boot dug into his side.
Esh’Donen shook himself into consciousness as he struggled out of his blankets in an attempt to obey the raspy voice of Dhaeg’n as it grew clearer with wakefulness.
“Come along, young Nanhew,” Dhaeg’n barked again with brisk command. “Time to see what you can do.”
Esh climbed to his feet, rubbing his eyes as he attempted to follow the tall, broad-shouldered Deon over the rocky, uneven ground that traveled for miles in all directions.
Suddenly the hair on the back of Esh’s neck stood on end, and he was barely in time to bring up his arms before a heavy blast of air struck his upper body and propelled him backward and onto the ground once more.
“Awake now?”
Leaping up, Esh glared into Dhaeg’n’s eyes – their airy green irises in stark contrast to his nearly black, green-hued skin – across the short distance that the Slayer had placed between the two men by striking Esh with a burst of Power.
“Don’t look at me like that,” the Deon commanded with an uplifted finger. “You know what I am, and that should mean you know that who you are dealing with is very coarse and impolite when dealing in certain areas with his peers.”
Esh blinked, barely catching the meaning of the heavily accented pronouncement.
“You consider me a peer?”
“Until such time as you prove the assumption premature,” Dhaeg’n replied with a curt nod.
Esh arched an eyebrow as the nine-and-a-half-foot Deon looked away to search for something in the belt-bag at his waist. He found it odd how Dhaeg’n could treat the differences of Race and class between them with such an air of ‘it means nothing special to me.’
“Merely for the sake of good communication, and so that we know that we’re standing upon even ground,” Dhaeg’n said, pulling something from his pocket and keeping it hidden in his fist, “we’ll start with the basics.”
Again arching his eyebrow, Esh took a more relaxed stance and shrugged before offering a half-hearted nod.
“What is nayrl?”
Grunting as he shook his head, Esh felt a sneer try to pull at his lips. “Uhm, p-power . . . it’s uh. . . .”
“Nayrl is translated into the Common tongue as meaning ‘Power,’ or ‘THE Power,’ in reference to its being a substance found in all things within Creation. It is believed to be a tangible substance by which the Creator forms and upholds every Realm He has Created, along with all things within them.” Dhaeg’n spoke as if he were reciting something that was permanently ingrained into his very being. “Repeat!”
Esh jumped slightly at the harsh command and quickly did as ordered. Dhaeg’n made him repeat the words several times until he seemed satisfied that Esh had memorized the definition.
“Very good. Do not forget it,” the tall bulky Deon nodded. “Now, what are kolth?”
That one Esh was sure everyone in the Realm of Khytowg – starting with those having been able to speak for a year – could name and describe well enough to satisfy even one with a Slayer’s knowledge of nayrl.
“Kolth are ores that can often be purified – depending on the type – to be forged into metals. They are saturated with far more nayrl than anything else, and can be wielded by Nayrldosh. . . .”
“Stop.”
Esh felt his throat and tongue halt as if the command had had a physical effect upon them. Dhaeg’n was holding up a meaty index finger as he considered Esh.
“I understand that you were raised to use that term when referring to a wielder, but here and now you must learn to use the proper verbiage.” The broad-shouldered Deon placed his finger against his own chest. “I am an Ihk-Nayrldosh; a dosh capable of not only wielding but also creating – or summoning, if you will – the particular kolth that I wield, fol’ty.”
Esh arched an eyebrow. He’d only ever heard stories about the Slayers from his half-senile grandfather, so he hadn’t been aware that there were different names for specific types of nayrl wielders.
“You are the only true Nayrldosh that I have heard of existing within the last millennia,” Dhaeg’n said, pointing at Esh. “And, for that matter, you are the first Nanhew Nayrldosh in Creation – as far as I know.”
“So. . . ?”
“The meanings of the terms are very simple.” Dhaeg’n silenced him again with an uplifted index finger. “Dosh, simply translated, means ‘wielder’ or ‘the wielder of.’ And nayrl means, obviously, what it is. The overwhelming majority of wielders are not so much wielders of nayrl as they are wielders of nayrlkolth – the purified forms of the different kolth.”
Esh waited through the pause, arching an eyebrow. He was beginning to think that Dhaeg’n the teacher was going to be a lot different than Dhaeg’n the traveling companion.
“I suppose that’s enough of a verbal lesson for today. Let us get to the practical teaching so we can move on.”
Dhaeg’n lifted the hand he had held at his side for the course of their conversation and chucked at Esh’s head whatever he had taken from his carrying-pouch earlier.
Flinching back, Esh had just enough time to feel that it was a raw hunk of nowlrik right before it touched the tip of his nose. Reacting to the touch instantaneously, he willed the chunk of kolth to its PureForm. The nayrlkolth streamed over his face like a splash of water before he called it to collect again a few feet above and in front of his right shoulder.
“Nowlrik is the nayrlkolth you are most adept at wielding in a manner that is conducive to strategic battle,” Dhaeg’n said. “So knock me off my feet before I do so to you.”
Esh was barely fast enough to avoid the blast of green-tinged air that Dhaeg’n sent tearing toward him.
Falling into a roll, Esh threw his right hand out toward the bulky Deon. In response to his will, the glowing, sapphire orb floating over his right shoulder snaked out and lashed at Dhaeg’n’s shins.
The powerful Deon remained perfectly still as his own mass of nayrlkolth – tingeing the air around it a rich, emerald green – swept downward to create a gale that blew the purified nowlrik away from its target.
In the second that their blows landed, Esh sprang to his feet and rushed toward Dhaeg’n.
Dhaeg’n swung his arms up, and his mass of nayrlkolth swept away from its strike against Esh’s ‘whip’ to burst toward Esh himself.
Taking the last few yards between himself and the Deon in a hard leap, Esh threw his fists out in front of him as he impacted against the glowing-green nayrlkolth of his opponent. The instant his flesh made contact with the Power, he willed it to disperse.
Time seemed to have slowed as Esh’s feet finally regained contact with the dusty ground, and Dhaeg’n’s eyes widened.
With a shout, Esh threw his arms wide. The Power inhabiting the space separating him and Dhaeg’n burst outwards like the explosion of molten rock from a raging volcano.
The bulky Deon was picked up off his feet and tossed through the air. Landing on his back with a heavy ‘whump’ several feet away from where he had been standing, Dhaeg’n remained motionless for a moment as Esh bent down to rest his hands on his knees, fighting off a sudden assault of dizziness and an ache that lanced up from the base of his neck and pulsed through his skull.
Esh blinked a couple of times, wondering where the headache had come from.
“Did you just usurp control over the Power I was wielding?”
Esh glanced up to find Dhaeg’n propped up on his elbows, cocking his head to one side as he awaited a response.
Shrugging and shaking his head, Esh squeezed his eyes closed. He let his head dip back down, and another slight pulse of pain informed him that his headache wasn’t going to subside anytime soon.
“Well, regardless, it is clear that the Creator has endowed you with an impressive command of Power.” A heavy hand fell on Esh’s shoulder, and he glanced up into the towering Deon’s rough, grinning face. “Come, let us continue our journey.”
Esh nodded as he followed Dhaeg’n back to their fire pit. Despite the persisting headache – or, perhaps, because of it – Esh wondered if he could become proficient enough in wielding to be capable of besting Dhaeg’n under any circumstance. He helped the powerful Deon repack their equipment, and as they climbed atop their mounts and set out once more, Esh continued to ponder the question. . .
Esh’Donen shook himself into consciousness as he struggled out of his blankets in an attempt to obey the raspy voice of Dhaeg’n as it grew clearer with wakefulness.
“Come along, young Nanhew,” Dhaeg’n barked again with brisk command. “Time to see what you can do.”
Esh climbed to his feet, rubbing his eyes as he attempted to follow the tall, broad-shouldered Deon over the rocky, uneven ground that traveled for miles in all directions.
Suddenly the hair on the back of Esh’s neck stood on end, and he was barely in time to bring up his arms before a heavy blast of air struck his upper body and propelled him backward and onto the ground once more.
“Awake now?”
Leaping up, Esh glared into Dhaeg’n’s eyes – their airy green irises in stark contrast to his nearly black, green-hued skin – across the short distance that the Slayer had placed between the two men by striking Esh with a burst of Power.
“Don’t look at me like that,” the Deon commanded with an uplifted finger. “You know what I am, and that should mean you know that who you are dealing with is very coarse and impolite when dealing in certain areas with his peers.”
Esh blinked, barely catching the meaning of the heavily accented pronouncement.
“You consider me a peer?”
“Until such time as you prove the assumption premature,” Dhaeg’n replied with a curt nod.
Esh arched an eyebrow as the nine-and-a-half-foot Deon looked away to search for something in the belt-bag at his waist. He found it odd how Dhaeg’n could treat the differences of Race and class between them with such an air of ‘it means nothing special to me.’
“Merely for the sake of good communication, and so that we know that we’re standing upon even ground,” Dhaeg’n said, pulling something from his pocket and keeping it hidden in his fist, “we’ll start with the basics.”
Again arching his eyebrow, Esh took a more relaxed stance and shrugged before offering a half-hearted nod.
“What is nayrl?”
Grunting as he shook his head, Esh felt a sneer try to pull at his lips. “Uhm, p-power . . . it’s uh. . . .”
“Nayrl is translated into the Common tongue as meaning ‘Power,’ or ‘THE Power,’ in reference to its being a substance found in all things within Creation. It is believed to be a tangible substance by which the Creator forms and upholds every Realm He has Created, along with all things within them.” Dhaeg’n spoke as if he were reciting something that was permanently ingrained into his very being. “Repeat!”
Esh jumped slightly at the harsh command and quickly did as ordered. Dhaeg’n made him repeat the words several times until he seemed satisfied that Esh had memorized the definition.
“Very good. Do not forget it,” the tall bulky Deon nodded. “Now, what are kolth?”
That one Esh was sure everyone in the Realm of Khytowg – starting with those having been able to speak for a year – could name and describe well enough to satisfy even one with a Slayer’s knowledge of nayrl.
“Kolth are ores that can often be purified – depending on the type – to be forged into metals. They are saturated with far more nayrl than anything else, and can be wielded by Nayrldosh. . . .”
“Stop.”
Esh felt his throat and tongue halt as if the command had had a physical effect upon them. Dhaeg’n was holding up a meaty index finger as he considered Esh.
“I understand that you were raised to use that term when referring to a wielder, but here and now you must learn to use the proper verbiage.” The broad-shouldered Deon placed his finger against his own chest. “I am an Ihk-Nayrldosh; a dosh capable of not only wielding but also creating – or summoning, if you will – the particular kolth that I wield, fol’ty.”
Esh arched an eyebrow. He’d only ever heard stories about the Slayers from his half-senile grandfather, so he hadn’t been aware that there were different names for specific types of nayrl wielders.
“You are the only true Nayrldosh that I have heard of existing within the last millennia,” Dhaeg’n said, pointing at Esh. “And, for that matter, you are the first Nanhew Nayrldosh in Creation – as far as I know.”
“So. . . ?”
“The meanings of the terms are very simple.” Dhaeg’n silenced him again with an uplifted index finger. “Dosh, simply translated, means ‘wielder’ or ‘the wielder of.’ And nayrl means, obviously, what it is. The overwhelming majority of wielders are not so much wielders of nayrl as they are wielders of nayrlkolth – the purified forms of the different kolth.”
Esh waited through the pause, arching an eyebrow. He was beginning to think that Dhaeg’n the teacher was going to be a lot different than Dhaeg’n the traveling companion.
“I suppose that’s enough of a verbal lesson for today. Let us get to the practical teaching so we can move on.”
Dhaeg’n lifted the hand he had held at his side for the course of their conversation and chucked at Esh’s head whatever he had taken from his carrying-pouch earlier.
Flinching back, Esh had just enough time to feel that it was a raw hunk of nowlrik right before it touched the tip of his nose. Reacting to the touch instantaneously, he willed the chunk of kolth to its PureForm. The nayrlkolth streamed over his face like a splash of water before he called it to collect again a few feet above and in front of his right shoulder.
“Nowlrik is the nayrlkolth you are most adept at wielding in a manner that is conducive to strategic battle,” Dhaeg’n said. “So knock me off my feet before I do so to you.”
Esh was barely fast enough to avoid the blast of green-tinged air that Dhaeg’n sent tearing toward him.
Falling into a roll, Esh threw his right hand out toward the bulky Deon. In response to his will, the glowing, sapphire orb floating over his right shoulder snaked out and lashed at Dhaeg’n’s shins.
The powerful Deon remained perfectly still as his own mass of nayrlkolth – tingeing the air around it a rich, emerald green – swept downward to create a gale that blew the purified nowlrik away from its target.
In the second that their blows landed, Esh sprang to his feet and rushed toward Dhaeg’n.
Dhaeg’n swung his arms up, and his mass of nayrlkolth swept away from its strike against Esh’s ‘whip’ to burst toward Esh himself.
Taking the last few yards between himself and the Deon in a hard leap, Esh threw his fists out in front of him as he impacted against the glowing-green nayrlkolth of his opponent. The instant his flesh made contact with the Power, he willed it to disperse.
Time seemed to have slowed as Esh’s feet finally regained contact with the dusty ground, and Dhaeg’n’s eyes widened.
With a shout, Esh threw his arms wide. The Power inhabiting the space separating him and Dhaeg’n burst outwards like the explosion of molten rock from a raging volcano.
The bulky Deon was picked up off his feet and tossed through the air. Landing on his back with a heavy ‘whump’ several feet away from where he had been standing, Dhaeg’n remained motionless for a moment as Esh bent down to rest his hands on his knees, fighting off a sudden assault of dizziness and an ache that lanced up from the base of his neck and pulsed through his skull.
Esh blinked a couple of times, wondering where the headache had come from.
“Did you just usurp control over the Power I was wielding?”
Esh glanced up to find Dhaeg’n propped up on his elbows, cocking his head to one side as he awaited a response.
Shrugging and shaking his head, Esh squeezed his eyes closed. He let his head dip back down, and another slight pulse of pain informed him that his headache wasn’t going to subside anytime soon.
“Well, regardless, it is clear that the Creator has endowed you with an impressive command of Power.” A heavy hand fell on Esh’s shoulder, and he glanced up into the towering Deon’s rough, grinning face. “Come, let us continue our journey.”
Esh nodded as he followed Dhaeg’n back to their fire pit. Despite the persisting headache – or, perhaps, because of it – Esh wondered if he could become proficient enough in wielding to be capable of besting Dhaeg’n under any circumstance. He helped the powerful Deon repack their equipment, and as they climbed atop their mounts and set out once more, Esh continued to ponder the question. . .
_______________________________________________________
(Thanks to Kate, for taking a moment to quickly run through this to catch at least the blatantly obvious 'grammar mistakes' ;) )
Let me know what you think :D
3 comments:
:)
Fun story! ;) Write more!
:)
~ Kate
So... you've piqued my interest! Good job! I've added your book to my "want to read" shelf on Goodreads. :)
Thanks, Jessiqua (and Kate), I'm working on getting an ebook version ready so a cheaper option will be available than what we had to set the printed book at :]
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