NaNo Snippet #2

This is not a continuation of where I left off. I can’t give you EVERYthing, can I? I think I’m going to enjoy this new character I added. Well, the two new characters that were introduced since we left off. Not much context, I’m sorry. I just liked the exchange.

And I really need to come up with a name for the other race of beings. They’re elf-like creatures. Think…Lord of the Rings-ish elves, only not good. Any suggestions would be good!

And yes, I realize this is rough. That’s the point of a rough draft! I’m writing and will eventually go back and redraft and edit and fix any grammar. Any ideas, thoughts, concrit is MOST welcome!

NaNo Snippet #2

He was disoriented when he woke, sitting up on the chilled floor, the blanket falling to pool into his lap. Where was he? What happened this time? Did he sneak into some barn in the middle of the night and curl up in the horses stall?

No. It all came back as he rubbed at the hair behind his ears and yawned. He was a prisoner. Of a ???. He shuddered in a way that had nothing to do with the cold.

Yet. There was a blanket. His belly was starting to become empty, but it had been filled comfortably the evening before. Or rather, morning before? He couldn’t remember.

And. Placing a hand next to him to balance himself, he felt the softness of hay. He turned his head to stare at the pile in wonderment tinged with a hint of disbelief. Was the hay there for a comfortable bed? Or did this stupid ??? think that’s what he ate.

“I don’t think that,” a voice spoke, startling him.

He whipped his head around to stare at the figure leaned against the bars watching him. The ??? stood, holding his empty plate loosely in one hand. It unnerved him to be observed like that and he didn’t realize he had spoken aloud.

“What?”

“I don’t think you eat hay. I may not have been around many Dynar, but I’m fairly certain you do not eat hay.”

He sniffed at the ???

“I brought it for a more comfortable bed,” the ??? continued. “I’m sorry I can’t do better. We really have no other bedding in the place, besides mine and my master’s. He would kill me if I let you use it.”

He was stunned enough to have any sort of comfort items, so he wasn’t one to complain. He was a prisoner, after all, and he knew prisoners didn’t get special treatment. Especially the prisoners of the ???.

“It’s alright,” he replied, stretching out his legs.

“I’ll bring you something to eat in a little while,” the ??? offered, looking down at his hand. The movement conveyed a hint of shyness. “Now that you’re awake.”

“That would be nice.” He considered the ??? for a few moments. “What are your plans for me?”

“I sent word to my master about what happened. I’m awaiting instruction from him.”

“Oh.”

“He was due home in a month’s time. I’m not sure if he will return sooner or at the time he planned.”

“Either way, I’m here for awhile?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Well,” he sighed, rubbing his hands against his thighs. “I suppose we should at least introduce ourselves to each other.” He thought this ??? might be easier to deal with – or bribe – if they got on a first name basis. The more he learned about the ??? the easier it would be to escape. “The name’s Lark.”

“I thought the Dynar didn’t have any names?” the sorcerer asked, staring at the figure on the other side of the bars.

Lark laughed with no humor. He propped his chin on his forearms, which were crossed atop his now drawn up knees. It was cold in the cell and the position helped to conserve body heat. “Among ourselves we do. Your kind doesn’t seem think we’re worth naming. Dogs and pigs are, apparently, but not slaves.”

The sorcerer winced at the word, his features settling into a frown. Lark noted how the other man’s brows pinched together under the thick shock of dark blond hair over his forehead. “What did you say your name was?”

“Lark,” the Dynar responded, looking away.

“Lark,” Altraminar repeated. “Is that short for something?”

“No. It’s just the name I picked for myself. I had no one else to name me.”

“Why Lark?”

Lark looked back at him, eyes narrowed. He seemed sincerely curious – his features had smoothed into a more neutral expression. Lark had already perceived that this ??? was different than the others. Lark could spot a rebel when he saw one. Wasn’t he one himself? This ??? didn’t behave as others had towards him. Yes, the man had locked him up, but Lark was trying to steal a precious artifact, so he couldn’t really blame the sorcerer for that.

However, a true ??? would have either executed him on the spot for daring to escape slavery, or immediately sent him back to the mines. A fairly comfortable cell wasn’t what Lark expected. Nor did he expect meals or comfort items. Yes, the cell was cold, but there was a fresh pile of hay with a worn, but warm blanket on it. It was more than Lark deserved. At least in the eyes of a ???.

A ??? wouldn’t speak to him, either, as if he were an intelligent being. Lark was fairly certain that this was the longest conversation he’d ever carried with a ???. He’d been spoken to, verbally abused, and ordered around, but never had he been spoken to as an equal.

“Do you honestly want to know?”

The ??? shifted slightly, a mere transfer of weight from one foot to the other, but he grabbed hold of two of the iron bars and leaned closer. “I do,” he answered simply.

Lark straightened his back and his arms, though they still rested on his raised knees. His hands clasped, however, and gave him something to focus on as he spoke in a flat tone.

“I don’t know where I was born. My earliest memories are the gem mines. At least this,” and here he waved one hand vaguely around to indicate his cell before clasping them again, “is nicer than my cage.”

“What about your parents?”

Was this guy for real? Lark lifted his gaze and stared open-mouthed. “Parents? I was a slave. I didn’t have parents.”

“Everyone has parents.”

“Slaves don’t. Or I guess biologically we do. I don’t know who they are. Or were. We’re taken away to where we’re needed.”

“They don’t even let you grow up with your parents?”

“It’s easier,” Lark shrugged. “It’s easier if you don’t know them. If you’re a youngling and you’re attached, you make a fuss when you’re taken. At least I guess that’s why. If you have no memory, you don’t struggle.”

The man looked down, his brow furrowed once again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“How do you not know? You’re a ???”

“I didn’t really grow up around others,” the man snapped. “I grew up with Jianbe. He raised me. He didn’t keep…slaves,” he added, stumbling over the last word.

“Then what happened to your parents?”

“Dead,” was the short answer. When the man didn’t elaborate, Lark let his hands drop to his sides, resting against the threadbare blanket.

“I grew up in the mines. I never saw the outside. The sky. I’d heard about it, but couldn’t imagine it, you know?” The look on the man’s face seemed sick. “I was small and skinny, so perfect for gem mining. The master kept these birds in cages. They were beautiful perfect things. He used them to test the air in mines.”

“Test the air?”

“Yeah. If a bird can’t breathe, the reasoning is that a slave can’t either. Bad air kills a bird faster than a slave, so it’s quicker to send a slave down a shaft with a bird. If the bird dies, the slave is supposed to have enough time to get out. Supposed to,” Lark amended.

The unsaid of that statement brought out the frown again, though the man didn’t comment.

“They sang so pretty, you know. The birds. I hated having to carry them. They didn’t know they would probably die. It happened a lot – air goes bad in those mines pretty quick. It broke my heart every time I’d run out with a cage that had lost it’s song, scared that I wouldn’t make it.”

Lark noticed that the man’s knuckles were turning white, which surprised him. ??? didn’t usually show emotion – at least the ones he’d dealt with. They were cold and aloof, superior beings who dealt in magic and ethereal matters.

“Someone in the mines told me the birds were called larks. I know it sounds stupid, but I loved those birds. So I made it my name. Not long before I escaped,” and Lark choked over that word. It was still hard to admit his transgressions to a ???. “Not long before, I released the birds kept in the cages. I was sent to fetch one to test a shaft and I opened the door instead and set it free. Then I did the others.” He saw the flicker of a smile on the man’s face and the tension ease in his clenching hands. “I don’t even know if they made it out. We were pretty deep in the mines. I like to think they did.

“When I ran away, I was able to use the trees to escape. I’m pretty nimble, when all is said and done, so I climbed a tree and jumped from one to the next in the forest near the mines. They couldn’t find me. But when I got tired I rested in one of the treetops and was awoken by the song of larks. It was nice to imagine they were the ones I’d set free. I know they probably weren’t, but still,” he shrugged. “I took it as a sign that I’d be free, somehow. That I wouldn’t get caught and be sent back. Guess I was wrong,” he said bitterly.