Solomnius--The winning entry for DA's immortal story quest

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DevilsAngel
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Solomnius--The winning entry for DA's immortal story quest

Post by DevilsAngel »

DevilsAngel - the story

The lights go out....
she falls to the ground...
a brilliant while light flares into existence...
warmth enters her being....
a soft blue aura radiates from her soul.....
she drifts upwards, into the heavens....
a new angel is born!

Her story starts as an orphan, brought to the forchoon orphanage when she was only two years old after losing her parents to the plague, she was six now, and as stubborn as they come, more energy than a rabbit and if you removed all the dirt and dressed her up in some girl clothes was very pretty indeed. But that would never happen, if Devina had anything to do with it, all she was interested in was exploring the forest surrounding the orphanage, playing with the many animals that came to her every day, her favourite was a squirrel, who was no-where to be found this beautiful spring morning, she looked everywhere, the hollow log near the stream, the top of the willow tree, behind the large rock in the clearing, she started to get worried, hoping he hadn't gone into the deeper forest, you could see the twisted line of trees where it began, she had never been in there because of Sally, Sally cares for the seven orphans who live at the orphanage, she is a grumpy old lady, but D!
evina knew her to have a kind heart, she just puts on a show to keep the kids in line, she was the closest thing Devina had to a mother, anyway, she had told her stories of the deeper forest, the place was evil, and that no-one had even come back alive from the place, she knows Devina comes here but trusted that she was afraid enough of her stories to never venture into that part of the forest. Her heart started beating faster as she stood staring at the forest, thinking if her little friend had gone in there, wondering if she should go in after him. Suddenly she hears a squeal only a squirrel could make, 'Squirrel!' she screams and forgetting all her fears she runs as fast as her little legs can carry her towards the sound, into the deeper forest, dark shadows from the trees above block out most of the light, she hears the squirrel again and changes her direction slightly to the left and tries to run faster, the ground disappears beneath her and she falls into a deep pit, !
landing with a splash in a puddle of muddy water. She stands up and lo
oks above her to the top of the pit two meters above, she gropes the walls looking for a hand hold but her fingers only meet with slippery mud, she drops to her knees and begins to cry in helplessness as a small figure climbs into her lap. 'Squirrel!' she cries out in joy and cuddles the small muddy creature, 'I was so worried, what were you doing in here? You are so lucky I found you....' she stops as she realises that she too, is now stuck down in the pit. 'Hey what have you got there?' she gently takes a silver bracelet from the squirrels claws and holds it above her head where she can get a better look at it from the small amount of light coming into the hole from above, 'looks like little butterflies engraved on it, how beautiful, and look, the mud doesn't stick to it, it's perfectly clean, wow!' she slowly puts it on her wrist without taking her eyes of it, suddenly she feels light headed, no, her whole body feels light, she begins to rise from the ground, she holds ti!
ght to the squirrel as she floats a few inches from the muddy floor, she starts to breath quickly and her heart start pounding 'it's nothing to worry about, really it's not, were just.... flying that's all' she tries to convince herself. She looks up to the top of the hole and tries to will herself up, it works! she begins to float up and out or the pit, she wills herself to land but stops short a few inches from the ground, she removes the bracelet and drops to the ground a few feet from the pit. Her heart still beating she hears a howl in the distance, she quickly puts the bracelet away and puts the squirrel down 'we need to get out of here squirrel, and quickly' the squirrel stands on it's back legs and sniffs the air, then takes of in the direction of home, Devina races after the squirrel until the twisted trunks of the deeper forest have been left behind, Devina drops to the ground exhausted and sleeps.
'She's really quite smart master Kleff, she just needs a little guidance is all, oh look she's awake, hello dear, did you have a nice sleep? Michael found you asleep in the forest and brought you back here, you slept the whole night through, this is master Kleff, he has come to find a apprentice, where are your manners Devina, say hello to master Kleff'
Devina blinks a few times and sits up on her bed, before her stands an old man dressed in a dark green shawl leaning on a crooked walking stick, he smiles at her and nods his head in greeting 'hello Devina, Sally has told me a lot about you, I am Kleff, I have been studying the arcane arts for more then 50 years, I am looking for someone just like you who I can teach to carry on the study of magic, what do you think?'
Devina opens her mouth but no sound comes out, she feels for her pocket where she put the bracelet and realises she is wearing her nightgown, the bracelet is gone, 'looking for this?' Sally says as she holds out the bracelet to Devina 'I found it when I changed you and put you to bed, did you go into the deeper forest? You silly girl you could have been killed!'
The old man peers intently at the bracelet, 'may I see that?' he asked of Sally 'only if it is ok with you Devina?' he says and turns his gaze upon the founder of the bracelet. Devina nods slowly and watches as master Kleff inspects the bracelet 'I believe this is a butterfly charm bracelet, imbued with powerful magic's, one of which is to make the wearer fly, interesting, I have only seen these in books, you found this in the forest Devina?' again all Devina can do is nod towards the old man 'here' he says and hands the bracelet back to her 'if you want to learn more about that bracelet, and others like it, you can come with me to my home in the valley, and I will teach you to read, how to find herbs, how to mix potions, I have many books and magical artefacts from all over the world, you will learn a great deal and assist me in my work, what do you say to an apprentiship with me Devina?'
Devina looks from the face of Sally, who stands with hands clasps together, giving quick short nods toward her, her eyes glassing over with tears, back to the old man, wisdom and compassion in his eyes, waiting for an answer, Devina closes her eyes and lets her mind drift back to the forest, back to her forest friends, she opens her eyes 'I will come, if I can bring squirrel with me' she looks at the old man who smiles broadly claps his hands together 'done, go get your squirrel and pack your things, We shall leave immediately'.
The next 20 years pass without event, apart from on her 8th birthday her pet squirrel passes away, she burries him in the garden and plants a baby willow tree on his grave. Much she has learnt during her time with master Kleff, she is now an adept magic user who can turn herself invisible, create magical portals to almost anywhere in the realm, magically locate any item within the many text books that she has access to and enchant a weapon to it's full potential, she never got bored with the teachings of master Kleff, there was always something new and inspirational he would show to Devina, who he now called little Devil, ever since that day when she was 12, she was reading a book out-loud unknowing to her contained a spell of frenzy, she went on a rampage for hours, making such a mess it took her the next 3 weeks to clean up, master Kleff from that day started calling her little Devil.
Today was the day of the crescent moon, they had been planning this day for years, upon deciphering ancient runes, Devina had come across a youth spell that would extend the life of master Kleff by half a century. The thing was, it only worked on a certain cycle of the moon when the crescent was perfect. They both stood in the clearing by the light of the moon, Devina going over the spell in her mind, holding a rune etched coin hollowed with the shape of the crescent moon in the palm of her hand, master Kleff sat cross legged in front of her, hanging from his fingers was a pendulum, a silk string which clasped a moonstone, apparently when the moon was just right the moonstone would start to swing, letting them know when the time was right to cast the spell. Another half hour went by before the moonstone began a steady rocking motion, Devina looks to master Kleff who nod his head to Devina to start the spell. Closing her eyes she begins to chant, three times she completes the spell before the coin begins to float out or her hand above master Kleff, she continues to repeat the spell and the coin starts to spin and glow blue, drowning the old master in light, slowly but surely the old mans skin begins to tighten, his grey hairs darken, the crows feet near his eyes smooth, then out of no-where a mass of bats sour past, startling Devina she stumbles the spell for just a second, the coins colour changes to red, then white, radiating an intense heat, then shoots toward Devina face, she covers her head and the coin slams into her, singing flesh and burning the shape of a crescent moon into her arm, she stumbles backward and looses consciousness......
Her dreams are vivid, a motherly woman with a friendly smile stands before her, lighting up the surrounding mist with the pink aura that radiated from her body, the woman gestures with her hand and wipes away a bit of the mist to reveal a forest, the deep forest where Devina was raised, a squirrel darts out from the deep growth, followed by a small muddy girl. A tentacle of black mist shoots out of the forest behind her and brushes the back of her neck, dropping her to the ground unconscious, attached to the mist a grotesque beast emerges from the forest, standing eight feet tall with four arms each ending in a clawed hand, it's eyes glowing red and bile dripping from it's fanged mouth it approaches the girl. Just as it closes it's hand around the girls ankle a brilliant pink light shoots out of the forest catching the demonic being square in the back making it scream in pain, it turns it's head towards the forest to watch as woman floats into view. The things eyes snap open!
in fear, it releases the girl and runs like a dog back into the forest, mist covers the image.....
'You...You saved my life, I thank you er....' Devina looks to the woman for her name. 'People call me Kiri, and you are welcome Devina' replied Kiri, 'and I guess your wondering where you are? let me first start from the beginning.' Kiri takes a deep breath and begins 'When you were born your life force broadcast a beacon, a very strong one which I went to investigate, I wasn't sure what it meant so I kept an eye on you, I was surprised when that beast attacked you, as they normally would never leave the safety of the deep forest, so after I scared it of I waited till someone came looking for you, then went to find this beast to discover what it knew that I did not. I was even more surprised, as while trying to scry the beast for information, it exploded, as if someone, or something was trying to hide something. So I just kept watching you, until now I haven't known the full meaning of your existence, that spell you muddled should have sucked the life out of you in an instant, which it did, and you died for a split second, but then something happened, your life force was pulled back into your body, along with the power of immortality, and that is why that beast attacked you, who-ever was controlling it wanted that power for themself, if they could kill you and snatch that power before your body could pull it all back....' Kiri's eyes glass over as she tries to focus her thoughts 'anyway, your body is where it fell, unharmed, only your consciousness is here, you will wake soon, and when you do I have something to ask of you'
Devina bows her head to Kiri 'you saved my life Kiri, whatever you want, just ask'
'There is a place, far away, I call Barren Realms, my home, others like you there are, watching over the people and the land, I only ask you consider making it your home for a time, join our family and let us teach you your new powers, use them to aid the community, there is much to learn but you now have all the time in the world, here, wear this, it will let you contact me whenever you want' Kiri holds out her hand which hangs a silver anklet with curious engravings.
Devina takes the anklet and clutches it to her chest 'Thank you Kiri, I will endeavour to contact you soon, just one thing, how can my consciousness hold onto an anklet?'
Kiri's smile broadens as she throws a wink at Devina. 'Devina.....little Devil....wake up Devil..*snap*'
Devina opens her eyes to see a much younger looking master Kleff kneeling over her.
'oh Devina, are you ok? can you stand?'
Devina, realising she still carries the anklet clutched to her chest rolls over onto her knees and stands up 'yes master Kleff, I feel ok.'
Master Kleff stands and takes a step back, noticing the anklet he asks 'where did you get that jewellery? and what is that ring of light above your head? I noticed you stumbled the spell, did that cause this?'
'You could say that' Devina answers
'you look like an angel now' master Kleff chuckles, 'now I have to call you little DevilsAngel'
'I'm not little anymore Master Kleff' Devina puts on a mock sad face
'ok, DevilsAngel it is then, so how do I look?' master Kleff turns around showing off his new youth.
'you look good master Kleff, very good.' Devina smiles
'Well I think we should call it a day, I feel much more energetic but after your little fall and that strange halo I think we should go home and let you rest for a bit.' master Kleff clasps Devina on the shoulder 'you done well DevilsAngel, very well indeed' he says before walking towards home. About 20 paces he turns to regard Devina who just stood there rubbing the anklet between her fingers. 'Comin Angel?' he calls back to her. Devina looks up at master Kleff and nods 'be right with you master Kleff'. Devina watches master Kleff until he disappears around a corner, then bends down to slip on the anklet, as she does she feels goosebumbs all over her body and her hairs stand on end, she can feel Kiri watching her, and knows she will see her soon.
'They call me DevilsAngel' she whispers to herself before bending over to pick up the dropped coin and heading home.

story by Solomnius
*bounces around* Dev
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