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Heeeey everyoneee!!!!!!!!

I’m baaaaacckkkk!!!!

Also I convinced my friend to join SE. She will appear shortly. Her name is Bella King. 🙂

Okayyyy now that I’m done embarrassing me friends, I will get down to business.

@rose-colored-fancy

Okay, I think we’re actually near the limit, and I really appreciate your offer to wait, but I’m not planning to bring him in until in a few weeks, definitely not before NaNo is over!

Cool! I counted, and there’s room for two more, so it should be fine. I will bring her in right now because she needs some serious character development help…

(And it’s extremely weird when you meet someone ‘in the wild’ who looks like your characters. It’s happened to me twice and it’s always hysterical because I’m trying so hard not to stare XD)

DON’T YOU LOVE AND HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPPEEEENNNSSS?????????? I literally saw an older version of Niarok at the museum today and it was so weird and I had to physically stop myself from calling him Niarok. It was a problem. 😀

I don’t know why he reminds me of Niarok but he really does. XD

LOL!!!! I’m soooo excited to meet him now!

 

Niarok

A skittering sound followed by a yell jerked Niarok awake and he drew his dagger. Then relaxed when he noticed Acyn holding a rock and Sahar laughing at him.

Nothing new here. 

He noticed a guy with weird armor crouching in the corner.

“I found something,” he said a second later.

Something new here!

Niarok jumped up, energized. How he had gained energy from sleeping for only ten minutes, he didn’t know, but he strongly suspected it had to do with the aranka he had eaten.

He tied some of the shoulder-length black hair out of his eyes and wiped his face as best he could, trying to at least make himself presentable to the general world.

Yila was still flirting with Lorcan. Acyn was throwing rocks. Quin was talking with Acyn, although he looked a bit… confused? Awkward?

Niarok was done trying to read the man.

Feral mountain lion man was standing in the shadows getting attacked by Sahar.

And there was, of course, the armored man.

Who was being ignored.

And looked rather affronted for it.

Niarok threw back his bedroll, strapped on his various weapons, and walked up to the man.

Aside from the man’s strange appearance, Niarok had a feeling he had met a man of equal strength to himself. Finally.

“I’m Niarok,” he said. “What did you find?”

The man gave him a blank military expression and gestured to some stuff hidden by shadows in front of him.

Niarok grabbed a torch from his belt and lit it as fast as he could. With the help of the extra light, he could just make out the remnants of an old camp.

There was a blackened log, some scuffles around it, and a piece of old, yellowed paper.

But Niarok wasn’t concerned about that. He was more worried about the scent in the air.

And the displaced waves coming from somewhere near him.

Someone was watching him from the shadows.

He drew his sword and glared into the dark off-shoot of the cave.

“If you’re back there, you need to reveal yourself. My sense of hearing and space is very good, and if you aren’t willing to show yourself, I will be forced to locate you and disable you. Trust me, I’m very good at making it very difficult to move.”

By now everyone was staring at him like he had grown five extra heads. As well they would. Whoever this was was somehow entirely invisible.

Niarok glared into the shadows, his sword bared.

Tension crackled through the air.

Yila appeared beside him. She was pale, a little strained, but she seemed strong. She held a knife in both hands, and her bow and quiver were strung across her back. She had even pulled her hair back.

And we hope there aren’t any werewolves back there.

“Good to see you, Roky,” she said, her eyes fierce.

“You too,” Niarok whispered. Then he glared into the shadows. “My sister will throw her knives into those shadows in ten seconds if you do not show yourself.”

“Five… four… three-”

A girl stepped out of the shadows. A relatively small girl. She was far shorter than Niarok, shorter than Yila. Just… short. Tiny, actually.

And really, really pretty.

Her black hair was thick and curly, falling down to her waist. Her brown eyes stared at Niarok with a mixture of extreme fear and curiosity.

“Who are you?” Niarok snapped.

“Um… my name is Leytera?” she murmured, twirling a lock of hair. She put something in her belt, and Niarok felt the waves in the air disappear.

One of those people.

“Do you know this man?” he asked, gesturing to the armored guy.

“Um… no?”

Niarok huffed. “Where did you come from?”

“Er… Calanor.”

Niarok raised an eyebrow.

“Never heard of it.”

Leytera stared at him, clearly terrified but not sure what to do.

Niarok scanned her one more time.

“Never underestimate the enemy. Never.”
His father handed him a dagger.
“Now go. No matter what he does, says, don’t listen. Don’t let him make you think it’s safe.”

Niarok tightened his grip on his sword and lowered it, waiting to see how the girl would react. She stayed put, watching the tip of the sword with a great amount of terror.

Niarok sheathed it, nodding to Yila to lower her guard.

Leytera stared, biting her lip hard.

“Are… are you going to hurt me?” she asked. Her voice quavered.

Niarok shook his head. “No. Not unless you give me reason to.”

Then he walked away, though he could hear Yila say a few cool words to Leytera before wandering away.

“Where do you suppose she came from?” Yila asked.

“Couldn’t tell ya,” Niarok said. He fingered the hilt of his sword.

He may not know where Leytera had come from, but he did know he wouldn’t let her hurt his new comrades.

 

That was rather unexpected…