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Date Posted: 18:20:37 04/25/02 Thu
Author: Krystal
Subject: Chapter 1
In reply to: Krystal 's message, "MageHunt" on 18:16:27 04/25/02 Thu

Part 1: Outcasts
1: The Mage
Serrina sighed wearily as she went to her room. Her daughter, Krystille, had spent the entire day in her own room. “If she burns this house, we’ll both be exiled,” she muttered darkly. Though her voice was filled with contempt, something inside her jumped excitedly at the possibility of another adventure. She quickly snuffed out the treacherous thoughts as she pushed shoulder-length brown curls out of her face. “I’m too old for adventuring,” she reminded herself. “I can’t be slowing her down when she finally does have to leave.” She had made this decision long ago, and though she kept arguing with herself over it, she knew it was the best way.
All exiles had the choice of death over leaving the city into the wildlands. If both Serrina and Krystille were to be exiled, Serrina would choose death. In fact, it might be hard not to ask for death even if only Krystille was exiled.

Krystille waited deep into the night for Serrina to at last sleep. As she lay in her room, long red curls piled in cloudy masses around her head, she thought about what she would work on tonight. “Might as well start where I left off,” she murmured to herself.
She did not like working indoors; she was constantly afraid of losing control and burning their house. Instead of working with actual fire magic inside, as her mother thought she did, Krystille only meditated, concentrating her thoughts clearing her mind. She let her thoughts flow freely through her mind now. After meditating for so long, thinking felt good. Sometimes her thoughts remained on her work, but on occasion she would find herself surprised at her own thoughts. Inner worries or dreams had terrorized her often lately.
She called to mind the new young couples forming throughout the town. “I’ll never find someone who truly loves me...” she whispered, surprising herself to tears. She quickly dashed away the tears and took a deep breath to control her feelings. The moon was high overhead now; she listened carefully for any sounds from her mother’s room. There were none. Krystille sighed in relief. “It’s about time…” she murmured, pulling her flame red curls out of her face.
She crept from her room out into the hallway of the small, one-story house. She and her mother lived there together; her father had run off after he found out Serrina was pregnant, leaving her to care for the baby alone. Krystille had no brothers or sisters, as Serrina was shunned and avoided by men and women alike of their town, Cayna.
As Krystille slipped past her mother’s open door, she stepped on one of the many creaky floorboards. The house was in the worst condition of any in the town, but nobody could be convinced to fix it. Everybody was too superstitious, and feared Krystilles power. The floor gave out a loud, shuddering moan, and Krystille swore under her breath, her impossibly bright green eyes widening in horror.
“Krystille?” her mother murmured. “What are you doing up?”
“Just getting water, Serrina, go back to sleep,” Krystille told her, hoping the lie would stick. She was, if anything, getting the opposite of water…
Her mother said nothing, so Krystille assumed she had believed her and gone back to sleep. Krystille continued outside, breathing a sigh of relief as her bare feet touched the soft dirt path that led up to the house.
She walked down the path, toward the square in the center of the town. A nice big fire pit… it was perfect, as she’d found out long ago.
Nobody was around. Everyone was sleeping, of course, since it was so late. “Or should I say ‘early’ by now?” she murmured to herself. Krystille didn’t have much time, but anything was better than nothing. She walked up to the fire pit and summoned her magical powers.
Krystille was an Elemental of Fire. She was the only mage in her town, and was hated for it. Everyone feared her fiery powers, and envied them at the same time. Many looked for every excuse to get her in trouble, which was why her mother had forbidden her to do this… But she didn’t care. She needed to practice. Serrina doesn’t understand that, Krystille thought, and probably never will.
She cast a magical fire into the empty pit, and it burned as brightly as a bonfire, though there was no wood. She then continued where she had left off last night: controlling the fire’s actions. Concentrating hard, she told the flames to burn higher, then lower, brighter, then dimmer, over here, then over there. She was surprised at her success; she had failed last night. But last night she had been tired. Tonight she was not.
Krystille had taught herself everything she knew, since there were no other mages to learn from. Some of her spells had not even existed until she created them, but she did not know that at the time. Most of her spells were the rough beginnings of common spells.
An entranced gasp of a child sounded behind the 16-year-old fire mage. Krystille turned, holding up a ball of flame to see better. A woman gasped in fear, and her young daughter cried out in delight.
“Momma, she’s holding the fire!” The little girl cried, tugging at her mother’s hand.
“Hush, Darienne,” the girl’s mother scolded, glaring at Krystille.
“But momma, look! I wanna do that, momma!” and with that, the girl bolted from her mother, racing towards the burning flames in the pit.
“NO!” Krystille cried, extinguishing the flame in her hand and lunging to stop the little girl. She hooked an arm around the girl just in time, stopping her and sitting her down hard. The girl quieted, her eyes wide in shock. “I wanna hold the fire, too…” she said, tears spilling from her eyes.
“I know, dear, but you can’t just yet. You need to learn how first,” Krystille told her gently.
“How did you learn?” the little girl asked eagerly, drying her eyes.
“The gods taught me,” she responded. “They’ll teach you too when it’s your time.” It wasn’t exactly a lie... Krystille only hoped it would satisfy Darienne until she was a little older.
Just then, the girl’s mother caught up with them. “Get your hands off my daughter!” She shrieked, shoving Krystille aside and scooping up the girl.
“Oh, some thanks I get, for saving your daughter!” Krystille yelled back. “She would have dove into that fire and burned, and with no mages of healing powers, she would have died! Why don’t you say something nice for once instead of trying to cause trouble!”
The woman was appalled. “How dare you! The Council will hear about this! You may have saved her, but you weren’t supposed to be doing this in the first place! Ah, I’ve got you at last, brat! You’ll be thrown out of Cayna for good, and out of everyone’s hair!” She ran off in the direction of the mansion that housed the Council members, the all-powerful group of people who ruled Cayna.
“Uh-oh…” Krystille murmured. “How’m I gonna get out of this one?” She could have stopped the woman with her powers, but that was more likely to make things worse in the end. It would attract too much attention, and the Council would come anyway. The Council members came, led by that awful woman. All looked angry, except the woman, who was insanely happy.
“That’s her!” she shrieked. “That’s her! She’s the one who tried to kill my baby! My poor, innocent Darienne! Kick ‘er out! Kick ‘er out before she kills us all!”
“I have half a mind to…” Krystille muttered.
“Is what this woman said true?” the Head of the Council asked.
“Of course not! I was working here, minding my own business, when this old busybody hag showed up.” The woman gasped indignantly. “The girl was interested in what I was doing and I just stopped her from hurting herself!” Krystille was outraged that they could even think her capable of killing a child!
The woman swore viciously. “She’s lying! Of course she won’t admit to her wrongdoings, you idiots! Kick ‘er out!”
By now, the racket and the morning sunrise brought the other townspeople out. They circled around the arguing group, and, once they figured out what was going on, began chanting, “Kick her out! Kick her out!” One voice rose above the rest, though. “Stop! Stop it all of you!” Serrina screamed. “Let me through!” Grunts of pain cried out as Serrina kicked and punched her way through to Krystille.
“Now,” she said, calmly, “what’s going on here?”
“Stay out of this, Serrina, she’s not a child anymore. She will defend herself.” The Head Councilman said.
“There’s nothing to defend! I told you what happened, now let’s all go on with our business!” Krystille was losing her temper now. People backed away as fire danced in her eyes and through her hair.
“How am I to trust you?” the councilman sneered.
“How are you to trust her?” Krystille returned challengingly.
“I have made my decision. You obviously do not like this woman, and are therefore trying to get her in trouble. Well, the tables have turned, girl! You are the one in trouble now!” He addressed the crowd now. “Here is my suggestion! On your vote, we will decide! Her sentence: Exile! All in favor, say ‘Aye’!”
The entire crowd roared “Aye!” in one huge voice. Serrina screamed in agony under the noise, and Krystille stood silent in shock.
“There we have it, then. Krystille you are to never come back to Cayna! May the gods strike you down if you do!”
Two huge guards reached over and grabbed Krystille’s arms. The crowd stopped Serrina from reaching her. Krystille stopped the first with a powerful kick, and the second with a punch in the nose, but then three ran at her together. She fought for her life, trying to escape as two of them held her arms. She was ready to burn her way free when the third clubbed her with the hilt of his knife. The world went black as Krystille slipped into unconsciousness…

In the yelling and confusion, Darienne slipped away from her mother’s side. Everyone had pretended like she had no voice, and was too young to understand. Nobody would have listened if she told them Krystille had saved her.
The nine-year-old girl had idolized Krystille, admiring her strength and beauty. This morning had been the first time she’d ever seen Krystille’s magic. She’d heard rumors, but never truly believed them until now. She’d only needed to listen to hear all she wanted to know; nobody ever thought anything of the little girl within earshot.
She had done everything she could to be just like Krystille. Darienne secretly watched the firemage to see what she did, and then did those things too. She sat for hours, or minutes at least, perfectly still. She dressed in a leather vest and breeches, until her mother made her go back to dresses and petticoats.
Now she was weaving through a sea of people, heading for her home. She went into her room and dug out her breeches and vest, now rather wrinkly from being hidden under her bed. She tugged off her dress and replaced it with the more comfortable leather clothes, dumping the dress on her bedroom floor.
She slipped into her parents’ room next, hoping she would find what she needed... ah, yes! She took her father’s knife from his bedside table and tied it securely to her belt. Now she was ready. She slipped back out into the crowd to see what was going on.
“On your vote, we will decide!” the High Councilman was yelling. Uh-oh, what did I miss? Darienne thought helplessly. “Her sentence: Exile!” the High Councilman yelled, looking pleased with himself. He can’t mean Krystille.... “All in favor, say Aye!” She could see both Krystille and Serrina now.
“Aye!” the crowd roared. Serrina screamed her feral rage and fought to reach Krystille through the crowd. Krystille fought the guards viciously until one hit her with his knife. She went limp, and was dragged away.
“No, not Krystille!” Darienne moaned. She slipped through the crowd after her heroine. She watched as a guard put food and a knife in a small bag and tossed it most unceremoniously outside the gate. Another guard dragged Krystille out and dumped her beside it.
Two of the guards turned to leave, but the third waited. Darienne quickly dove into some bushes to avoid being seen. The third guard, who seemed to be the leader, said, “She’s a pretty one, ain’t she?” At the agreement of his fellows, he grinned. “Such a shame she’s gonna disappear forever. Might as well have some fun, eh?” The other two grinned, and the first turned to Krystille. As he reached for the laces that held her vest tightly shut, Darienne grabbed a rock.
“You leave her alone!” she shouted, throwing her rock at the guard and hitting him solidly in the head. He fell with a grunt and landed heavily beside Krystille. Darienne picked up two more rocks as the two remaining guards turned to her.
One frowned at the sight of his nine-year-old adversary. “Go home, little girl,” he advised. “This business doesn’t concern you.” Darienne threw her rock at the man.
“No! I won’t let you hurt her!” she screamed. The guard dodged her attack easily, but she picked up a new rock anyway, ready to continue her attack.
“Go home now!” the guard ordered. “We’re only making sure she’ll stay outside the gates!”
“You’re lying!” She threw her first rock at the guard, who dodged it very easily again, and then threw her second at the unconscious guard near Krystille. It hit him in the head with a crack that echoed loudly. “Go save your friend and leave mine alone!” she told them. They looked at the pool of blood forming under his head, then walked over and picked him up.
As they carried him away, one turned to her and shouted, “You’re in trouble, little girl!” They continued on without comment to the infirmary.
“I’m leaving anyway,” Darienne muttered to herself. She left the city, glancing at Krystille as she left. She seemed to be okay, but Darienne wasn’t a doctor. She ran to the forest just beyond the city, and hid there to watch and wait for her friend.
~***~
“I’m gonna go hunting, Ani!” Taran yelled to his sister.
“Yeah… Try to get some deer this time, right?”
“Right.”
They got along well for brother and sister. But as exiles, they’d found that it was agree or die, literally. Taran was a handsome 17-year-old boy, and had been in exile for five years. At 12, when he was exiled, he caught and killed rabbits with his bare hands to survive. At the time, his sister, Anialle, was still in town, but a year later, when 18-year-old Anialle was only 14, she also was exiled. Taran found her, and together they managed to steal enough to build a decent home.
Over the years, they collected more, expanding their home to make room for other exiles searching shelter. Taran and Anialle were both Elementals, Taran of Water and Anialle of Earth. Many of the refugees who stayed with them were also Elementals, or at least mages of some kind. The people of the small towns of that area were afraid of the magic that showed up occasionally in their civilizations. Currently, only one other exile was with them, a 15-year-old girl named Marrin, who was an Ice Mage.
Taran left the Sanctuary on foot, leaving the only horse, lovingly named Buttercup, for Anialle or Marrin, if they needed her. He wandered through the woods, carrying only his bow, 15 arrows, and a small knife. He spotted plenty of rabbits, but left them for now, knowing they would still be there later. He was looking for deer.
As he continued, Taran moved more carefully, knowing he was coming closer to the city of Cayna. They would know instantly he was an Exile, and not let him in, if they even let him live.
Moving silently through the last of the trees, Taran saw the little town, with its mud-brick walls encircling it protectively. He sighed wearily. He missed city life. Then something caught his attention. Someone on his side of the gate was getting up. The person swore surprisingly loud at the gate, hurling nearby rocks with enough force to crack them as they hit the solid stone gate. The voice was female, and definitely shaky with held-back tears. She looked to be about 15, but from the distance he was at, he couldn’t be sure. The most stunning feature was her almost-hip length flame-red hair, blowing back in tangled curls in the wind.
Was she an Exile? It certainly seemed like it. Taran blinked as she suddenly turned and raced away from the town. He silently followed her at a distance, to make sure she would be okay in the wilderness. Something told him she would be fine, but he needed to give himself an excuse, and convinced himself that was his only reason for following her.

Darienne watched silently as Krystille slowly got up and suddenly swore at the gate. Her jaw dropped; Darienne hadn’t known Krystille used language like that. She watched her idol throw some rocks at the gate, then abruptly turn and run. Darienne was about to follow when she saw someone else- a young man, following Krystille. Darienne picked up a couple of rocks and followed, ready to defend her friend again.

When Krystille came to, she was lying on the ground outside the town’s walls. Her hair was tangled and matted with dirt, and she groaned at having to clean that out later. She slowly sat up. She was unhurt, except for her pride, but at least she had her clothes. She also found a pack containing a fortnight’s worth of food and a small hunting knife. “Well, at least they aren’t completely ruthless…” She muttered. “But still…” Thinking of what they had just done to her, Krystille’s temper snapped. She abruptly stood up and screamed a vicious oath at the gate, throwing all the rocks she could find. She stared at the gate for a moment, then grabbed the pack and bolted, racing as far and as fast as possible.
When she could run no longer, she finally collapsed on the ground underneath a small tree. Tears fell from her eyes as she finally let years of pain overtake her.

Taran saw the girl finally stop running and collapse under a tree. He was worried for a moment, then saw she was all right. She was crying, though… He walked up and stopped about ten feet away. He could see her better now that he was closer, but since she wasn’t facing him he still couldn’t see much of her. Her hair was badly tangled and matted with dirt, and a slashed X on her left hand bled freely. He looked at the scar that remained from his own exile mark, then back at her. She wore a plain leather vest and soft deerskin breeches instead of a dress like most girls. Whoever she is, Taran thought, I definitely think she’ll fit in with us… He stood and waited for her to calm down on her own.

Krystille must have cried for a good ten minutes before she finally gained control of her feelings. She lay there for a few minutes, feeling the midday sun on her back, and smelling water nearby. A pond, or something; not running water or she would have heard it, too. She decided that the first thing she should do was get a drink, then try to figure out what to do. She sat up.
“Are you feeling better now?” a male voice asked. She gasped in surprise and whirled around, pulling her arm across her face to wipe away the last traces of tears.
“Who are you?” she demanded. “How dare you intrude on me like this? What do you want?”
“I’m Taran, I didn’t mean to intrude, and I want to know if you’re okay,” he answered, not missing a beat.
Krystille was a little taken aback by his response, but quickly recovered. “Why do you care? Nobody else does,” she said sourly.
“You’re pretty. What other reason do I need?”
Once again Krystille was stunned. Nobody had ever called her pretty before… “You should know who you’re messing with before you start caring so much. I’m an Exile, so look out, I might do something bad,” she snapped sarcastically.
“You? Bad? When the Underworld freezes over,” he said. “You don’t look like someone who could hurt a fly, much less a person.” He favored her with a lopsided grin as she studied him carefully.
“You’re quick to judge,” Krystille told him, getting up. “You shouldn’t be.” She punched him in the stomach, hard enough to stun him, but not hurt him too badly. While he was still gasping for breath, she reached across and spun him around so his back was to her, meanwhile pulling his legs out from underneath him. Within a couple of seconds she had him pinned with his face in the dirt and his arms twisted up behind his back. He didn’t even have time to cry out in pain, much less stop her. “I didn’t hurt you too bad, did I?” she asked.
“Uhhhhh… Get off me…” he moaned.
“Say ‘please’,” she said in her sweetest cutie-pie voice.
“Please… Get off me…” he moaned again.
“Hmmm,” she made a big deal of thinking about it. “Oh, okay.” The second she moved enough to free him, he spun and shoved her down, pinning her on her back underneath him. She cried out in surprise as she suddenly found herself face-to-face with him, and suddenly realized how cute he was… She quickly gained control of herself and smiled sweetly.
“Let me up,” she said, in the same cutie-pie voice.
“Hmmmmmmmmmmm,” he said
“You’re mocking me, aren’t you?” she said, her voice losing its sweetness.
“Oh, no, not at all!” he said in mock horror. She smiled slightly, then requested to be let up again. “For a price,” was his simple response.
“Oh, really? And what might that be?” she asked, trying to sound confident as she wondered what he could want.
“A kiss.”
“That’s all?” she asked, surprised. He nodded seriously, then raised one eyebrow questioningly. She smiled, and closed her eyes for a moment.
The next thing she knew, he was kissing her. It caught her by surprise, but it was the good kind of surprise. Then she was kissing him back, and opening her eyes to see the surprised look in his. He quickly pulled away, getting off of her and turning, blushing brightly. She smiled amusedly, and sat up to lean against the tree.
“You should be more careful of what you ask for, I think. So tell me more about yourself. Who are you?” she asked casually.
“I told you that. I’m Taran, I’m seventeen, and I live here,” he gestured vaguely to the wilderness around him. “You?”
“I’m Krystille (“pretty name,” he interrupted), I’m sixteen, and I used to live there.” She pointed to Cayna.
“You know, you’re lucky. I was exiled when I was 12,” he told her.
“What!? TWELVE? How horrible! Who could possibly be that heartless! I-” Then she realized what he had said. “You’re an Exile?”
He nodded. “Five years now… A year after me, my older sister, Anialle, was exiled. Together we managed to build a home, and gradually, uh, came across materials to expand it with.” He grinned innocently.
“Home? You built shelter? Where-“
Just as she was about to answer, Krystille was interrupted by hoofbeats and a call. “Taran! Taran, there you are! Where have you… Oh, hello.” A girl on a dappled gray mare rode up. Seeing Krystille, she had suddenly stopped in midsentence.
“Mar, I told you guys I was going hunting!” Taran said defensively.
“Yeah, but you didn’t say for what!” the girl said, grinning at Krystille.
“Yes, I did, I said…oh…” Taran obviously hadn’t gotten her meaning until midsentence, and suddenly stopped, blushing slightly. Krystille and the other girl both cracked up. An instant friendship was formed between the two girls, though they were more different than they could imagine. The girl got down from the horse and, between giggles, introduced herself as Marrin, Mar for short.
“All right, well you can call me Krystille, Krys for short,” she said.
“Am I allowed to call you Krys?” Taran asked.
“No,” she said bluntly, then giggled again. “Just kidding, yeah you can call me Krys, too.”
Suddenly Marrin’s eyes widened. “Yikes, they cut you deep!” She exclaimed, grabbing Krystille’s hand for a closer look at the dirty, bleeding X. Krystille winced, suddenly remembering it was there. All Exiles had that mark cut into their hands as a permanent reminder of who they are, and as a warning to any city letting them in. “It needs to be cleaned good!”
“No, its fine, really, it’s not as deep as it looks,” Krystille insisted.
“All right, all right. Taran have you caught anything?” Marrin asked.
“Uhhh… well…” he stalled
“That’s a “No”,” Marrin told Krystille. “Right, well, you’re welcome to come with me, Krys, but my guess is you’ll want to stay with him,” she said, pointing at Taran. Krystille smiled mischievously. “Anyway, make sure you get something to show Anialle besides a lip print, Taran, or she’ll be mad!” Marrin grinned at Krystille while Taran turned red again, and Krystille gave Marrin a rude gesture.
“No, actually I think that’s his job,” Marrin said.
“Bye, Mar!” Taran said cheerfully.
“All right, all right, bye!” she said, mounting and riding away across the grassy plains.
“Why is she going that way?” Krystille asked suddenly. “I thought you said the shelter was through the woods.”
“I did,” he said. “And it is. Can’t get the horse through there, though. She’s going around to a wider path.”
“Oh.” For a few minutes there was an uneasy silence, then Krystille suddenly said, “We’d better get something, a rabbit, I guess.”
“No, not a rabbit. I promised no rabbits when I left. She wants deer.”
“Oh, okay. That’s even easier if you have a bow,” she said. He pulled a well-polished longbow off his back. “Oh, wow, that’s perfect!” she said. “Come on, I know where to find plenty of deer. I used to go hunting for me and Serrina, since the town wouldn’t let us eat with them.”
“Why not? And who’s Serrina?” he asked, suddenly confused.
“Serrina’s my mother.” A little voice yelled at her then. Just tell him, it said, and get it over with! If he hates you, better now than later! “She also provides my name, Krystille Serrinasri,” she said after a long pause. The look on his face suddenly changed, first staring in surprise, then looking away abruptly. Her voice turned sour as she continued. “Yes, Serrinasri. A nice looking man came to town one day and spent the night with her. Then he left. She won’t say anything more than that.” Krystille’s voice was starting to shake now. “Go on!” she snapped. “Hate me now because of my name! Everyone else did! They hated my name, and they hated my magic, and they hated me!” Tears began running down her cheeks as she lost control. Taran was about to comfort her, then his bright blue eyes widened in surprise. “Yeah, you can hate this, too!” Krystille screamed, pulling away from the comforting arms he had been about to offer. “I’m crying fire, I know! All Elementals cry their element, you should know that!”
Taran reached out and pulled her into his arms. “I don’t hate you,” he said simply as she cried into his shoulder. The little flame tears didn’t seem to be burning him, so he continued to hold her and comfort her.
She seemed to realize the same thing. She stopped crying and looked up at him, saying, “Wait a minute! I’m not burning you?” she sounded surprised. He shook his head. “How odd! Hmmmmm…. Oh well, it doesn’t really matter, I guess. Good thing for you, I suppose.” He smiled and agreed. “I like you,” she said suddenly. He didn’t seem surprised at all. He only wrapped his arms tighter around her and said, “I like you, too.”
Then he kissed her cheek and took her hand. “Come on. Where’s those deer?”
“Oh! But you’ve got to promise me something before we go, okay? Please tell me there’s somewhere to wash up when we get to your Sanctuary!” She begged him. He nodded, grinning and playing with her dirty, muddy hair. She frowned and smacked his hand away playfully, then grinned and said, “Let’s go!” She started off at a run, dragging him behind her. “Hey!” he yelled, and started running to keep up.

Darienne’s eyes were nearly bugging out of her head. She had hidden in some bushes again, and listened to the entire conversation. Krystille and the strange man- Taran, he’d said?- had certainly gotten to know each other! She’d dropped her rocks when she realized that Taran wanted to be a friend, and dropped her jaw when she realized he wanted to be a boyfriend. Though she’d listend carefully to every word, she hadn’t fully understood what was so funny to Marrin; She set that aside in her mind for now, promising herself she’d ask later. Now Marrin had left, and Krystille and Taran were talking again.
Suddenly Krystille was screaming angrily at Taran. “Go on!” she shrieked. “Hate me now because of my name!” He moved closer as she kept yelling, like he wanted to comfort her, but then... fire? Yes! Fire was running down Krystille’s cheeks! She cries fire! Darienne was amazed. It seemed she knew very little about her idol after all.
Taran pulled Krystille into her into his arms, and held her while she cried. Either her flame tears weren’t burning him, or he just didn’t care. He gently wiped away the tears, and then said something Darienne couldn’t hear. Then they turned and left at a run, back towards the woods. Darienne waited a moment, and then followed after them.

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