Fanfic:Jerid's Three Arches
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First Arch
Be steadfast. The way back comes but once...
Jerid shook his head as the words echoed in his mind. The gold flecks whirled with confusion at why they had come now, but they were forgotten a second later as the flash of whirling steel brought him from that confused thought. Be brought his sword up quickly, the narrow bladed sword blocking the downcoming scimitar, barely managing to get away with his skull intact. He was facing a Seanchan soldier, the man's face covered by a ridiculous helmet that looked like an insect's head. Around them confusion milled, a result of the raid he had inniated. He was here for Evelyn.
Of course you're here for Eve, you woolhead! What other reason could there be?
The soldier made a fatal error in coming in too low, exposing his chest in the process. Smart to put on a helmet, just not bright enough to wear anything other than a vest of leather armor. Jerid took advantage of the opening and thrust his sword into the man's heart before the scimitar could catch him. The Seanchan was dead before he hit the ground, not even able to scream.
A flare of fire caught his vision as he spun around, realizing the forest clearing as he pulled free his sword. Three men were already dead, a good few more running about in confusion. He only knew that the flame had been Eve's work, a way of getting back at the sul'dam who had captured her. Even if she hadn't hit the woman yet, it was clear that the Seanchan was scared witless.
A whistling sound caught his ears, and he spun back around to block a sword blow that would have cleaved his back like a goose. Jerid put it to a end by kicking the soldier below the belt and punching the man in the nose with his sword hilt. In the distance he caught sight of Evelyn over the unconscious man he had so conveniently robbed chance of ever siring children. Slender and dressed in a grey dress that marked damnae, she was raven haired and had brown eyes. The look on her face spoke of single-minded determination in not being leashed again, of getting revenge. She was a wilder, like him, but apparently without a block; well none at the moment. He had been traveling with her for nearly three weeks, fellow thieves working together. He had grown close to her in that time, but it hadn't helped when she was captured by Seanchan. He had tracked and shadowed the small group for nearly three days and raided now, freeing her first.
Be steadfast. The way back comes but once.
The words echoed in his mind, something familiar. But he had never heard them before in his life. They were forgotten again though, as yet another Seanchan came at him. "Blood and ashes!" he growled, "Don't they ever give up?" He grasped the One Power then, the world suddenly becoming sharper and he felt more alive. In his mind he imagined the Seanchan soldier bursting into flame. Imagination became reality a second later as the man howled in agony as he caught afire. Jerid let go of the True Source as he caught sight of Evelyn running quite suddenly, as a short woman with blond hair chased her with a silvery leash. Soldiers blocked the wilder's way of escape, though. Jerid dropped the sword.
As his wrist flicked and a dagger free from his wrist sheath, a flash of silver light appeared in the corner of his vision. He turned briefly to see a silvery arch. The way will come but once...
Not now! For Light's mercy, not now! The words howled in his mind over and over as the seconds suddenly slowed to a halt. He couldn't do both at the same time...
He made a choice, one that bit into his soul and tore him apart. Never before had he betrayed a friend, or a partner...
"I'm sorry, Evelyn," he whispered as he ran and lept passed a hurled spear, tumbling through the arch. A silvery light enveloped him as tears streamed down his face.
Second Arch
Jerid barely avoided the Trolloc's sword blow as dodged out of the way. For a second he wasn't sure where he was, then it all came into focus. He was in a forest clearing, in the backcountry of Saldaea. The Trollocs had snuck up on the camp without any warning and now it was a fight for life.
Be steadfast. The way back comes but once.
The voice was familiar, but he couldn't place it. It faded from memory as the Trolloc came at him again. It was a beast, with a falcon's beak and feathered head and holding a massive scythe-like sword. Nothing human was in its eyes either. It lacked one thing though: speed. Jerid sidestepped a second swipe and brought his sword up and and into the Trolloc's side, breaking through the mail with ease. The beast fell like a sack of grain.
He was Dedicated, had been for nearly two years now. This was his first time away from the Tower, on an expendition led by a Brown Aes Sedai. Daimenin had decided he was suited to this one, as the goal was to seek and catalouge and collect any objects of the Power found in a ruin nearby. It brought a frown to his mouth for a second. Daimenin chose me? Indeed the Indigo Head had chosen him, although only a Dedicated, to go along with Mavae Sedai. He had been studying under the Asha'man for a long while, had learned alot. He also had the experince of his days as a thief and was able to hold his own in a fight since he had trained in the Warder Yards. But why was it not so right?
"Jerid, behind you!" The warning came from the distance. He knew the voice as one of the Warders that had come along with the expedition. Whose he couldn't place at the moment.
He siezed the True Source and spun around, a weave already springing to mind as he saw a second Trolloc coming at him. He wove flows of Air and Fire together, forming and pushing forth a ball of fire that engulfed the Shadowspawn. Why were they attacking the camp? The ter'angreal, you Light blinded woolhead! The expeiditon had found a ter'angreal a few days back, something that resembled a black rod of marble, though it wasn't marble in truth. It was determined to be dangerous to use, though the function was unknown. The Shadow couldn't have it, though, couldn't be allowed to gain hold of it.
Be steadfast...
Jerid spun back about towards the tent where the objects they had collected was set up. For a second there was nothing to be seen but that tent, before he caught sight of the tall dark figure, as quick as a snake and taller than the thief. It was coming from the tent with the rod in one hand, and a black blade in the other. Its skin was a clammy white, and where there was supposed to be eyes was only smooth skin; it was dressed in black and its cloak hung still, not even moving when it moved. A Fade. Blood and ashes, but it had to be a flaming Lurk.
He held out his sword and pointed it at the Shadowspawn, shouting at the top of his lungs. "Fade!" That caught the Fade's attention quite effectively, and it was all Jerid could do to ignore the sudden chilling fear that came with its sightless gaze. The Fade's mouth twitched in a semblance of a smile and held out the rod as if on a dare. One flash of Fire is all that is needed...
Be steadfast. The way back comes but once.
A silvery flash came from the corner of his eye, followed by a silver arch. Light, it couldn't be happening... He could take the Fade, save the rod...
With a disgusted growl, he hurled himself towards the arch, trying to ignore the shivering laughter of the Fade. The light engulfed him, leaving him feeling disgusted with himself.
Third Arch
Jerid looked up from the statue he was studying, a small marble figure. For a moment he couldn't make heads or tails of where he was at. He stood in the courtyard of a ruined keep, most of which was blanketed in a meadow of green grass. The gold flecks in his eyes flashed in confusion for a second before a name popped into his mind. Ryae. He shook his head, clearing his head. It was Ryae alright, an old ruined keep that was a holdover from ancient Coremenda, long since abandoned since that kingdom fell in the Trolloc Wars over two thousand years ago. Now it stood in the Caralain Grass, forgotten. It was amazing it had survived the ages in so well a shape. One would think it only abandoned a few centuries.
He felt more than heard the person approaching, and he looked up with a smile on his mouth to see Aynaiss exit the main tower of the keep. She was clad in a blue tunic and leather breaches, and her fancloth cloak shimmered about her, blending in with her surroundings. Time had passed her by with hardly a mark, not even strand of grey in her blonde hair, nor had stolen the twinkle from her emerald eyes. He loved her the same and more since the day of their wedding. We're married? But of course we are, for twelve years. She was his wife and his Warder; he had bonded her the same morning he had asked her to marry him, the day after he had been raised as Asha'man. A spark of confusion entered his mind again, but it was quashed. He had been an Asha'man of the Indigo Ajah for twelve years.
Be steadfast. The way will come but once.
The thought echoed in the back of Jerid's skull, something very familiar but totally foriegn as well. It was gone after a second. He set the figurine down and stood up, dusting off his hands. He was dressed in a black leather vest and forest green shirt, and leather breaches; at either hip rode a dagger and a narrow-bladed longsword, both weapons pommels a slim piece of amethyst. A gift from his father, the day he had recieved the letter from his parents that they were happy to have found out he was alive after all those years. He wore three rings, two on one hand, one of jade with golden leaf work and the other a gold ring. His left hand held a simple gold ring, his wedding band. The other gold one was an angreal, one that bolstered his strength in the One Power to some extent. The sword and dragon pins were at the collars of his vest, something he rarely was without.
The smile deepened as he walked towards Aynaiss, one of warmth and love. His forest green eyes echoed it as well, the gold flecks dancing like fireflies caught in a forest, as she would have said. It also rippled along the bond between them. The smile that she returned made his soul fill with a joy deeper than could have been posible while holding saidin. "Did you find anything, Aynaiss?" he asked. Despite everything he loved about her, his wife was always protective of him, her duty as his Gadair mixing. Not that there was any danger here besides a few rotten beams or tripping over a stone. Still, he hadn't forgotten the instincts that had kept him alive as a thief in his younger days.
Aynaiss shoke her head and replied, "Empty of anything besides rats and moldy old furinture. There's a library on the second floor, with most of the books still intact for the most part. Nothing else though, unless you count the room with a bunch of gems and gold and jewelry." Her face took a doubtful cast to it, one that Jerid knew by heart.
"Catieri said this place held a cache of ter'angreal and angreal, perhaps a sa'angreal or two as well. She hasn't been wrong in the past, Aynaiss, and I'm not going to misjudge her now."
Aynaiss didn't look convinced. She rarely did when it came to the subject. "I don't see why you have to take her side in every matter of this type, Jerid."
The former thief supressed a sigh. He had dearly wanted to avoid the subject at least for this excursion. "Because she is the Indigo Head, dear, and I'm the one who decided years ago to be the field expert in ter'angreal." Another second of confusion crossed his mind. Catieri is the Indigo Ajah's Head? That was right. Catieri al'Cardyn was the Ajah head, had been since Daimenin's death five years ago. He was only a Asha'man, though perhaps one well versed in the field of Power-made objects, both studying and crafting them. In his brief period as Dedicated, he had taken to studying under Daimenin al'Donai in that intrest. He had studied Talents and other fields as well, and made a good few breakthroughs. At least a half dozen of his journals graced the Tower Library. He had been more than willing to seek out ter'angreal, had been suited to it because of his former life. Aynaiss had a different opinion, though.
"You could have been Indigo Head, Jerid. You were more than qualified for it; you certainly had the ambition for it. Edwyn thought so, and Avi, too. Light knows that you had the support for it. Why didn't you vie for it?"
Be steadfast. The words echoed in his mind, but he shoved them out.
Jerid chuckled softly and smiled, though he felt like sighing. They had had the argument for over five years now. "Because I didn't want to be weighed down by paperwork. That and Catieri was more than qualified, more experinced. Being a weak channeler doesn't mean anything, only the will and devouting to the Ajah. I was never a leader, Aynaiss, only the thief that knocked sense into people. Lyn or Aleshanee would have been better choices by far than me." His smile deepened to a grin. "Besides, we'd be cooped up in the Tower otherwise, rarely able to get to travel very far abroad."
What usually won the argument didn't seem to be effective this time. He had never doubted his wife's judgement in most cases, but he was loyal to his Ajah, and that meant being loyal to Catieri as well. Even if they rarely saw eye to eye in some things. This time, Aynaiss spoke softly, looking him in the eye. "This doesn't feel right this time, though. From what you've been saying for the last few months, she's known about this place for a good while. And she had always sent others before you to scout out the location. Not this time, though."
Jerid opened his mouth to speak, to argue, but she had a point. And the look in her eyes said she wasn't about to drop the subject until he agreed. Stubborn as the thief was, he couldn't win when Aynaiss made a point like this. It just didn't make any sense...
His thoughts were cut short by a sudden shout. He turned to see armored figures emerging from thin air. A gateway. What in Light's name?
Be steadfast. The way will come but once.
He reached for the True Source only to hit a barrier. He was shielded. "Blood and ashes, this was a trap." He looked over his shoulder at Aynaiss and said, "Looks like you're right, love, because I'm shielded." He only got a grim nod in return as Aynaiss drew her sword. Jerid did likewise, the dagger and sword coming to hand readily.
The first three men came charging towards them when the silvery light flashed and he saw the arch appear from the corner of his eye. Be steadfast. The way comes but once.
Light, not now. For all that is good and honest, it couldn't be now!
Be steadfast...
Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at Aynaiss, his beloved wife. He whispered, "I love you," and he was running, the weapons dropping to the ground as he lunged into the archway. The light enveloped him as he heard a blood-curdling scream and felt a sharp and clean cut as the bond vanished like a snapped cord.
