The Red God

Chapter End

Naeris smiled coyly, as always proud her technique had not diminished even as she had grown older. She turned to leave and in the corner of her eye hidden in a thicket deep in the surrounding forest, she thought she saw a humanoid figure flit between the vast green.
"Did you-" She cut herself short upon seeing Nai Langris' puzzled look. "Must be the low magick" she thought to herself, something those who resided in the southern kingdom frequently blamed for their dilemmas. " Oh dear, lest I forget happy birthday" cooed Nai Langris as she pressed a small black box into Naeris's hand and sauntered into the morning market her tunic billowing behind her, knowing full well the 15 year old girl behind her was full of adoration and more importantly, questions. Naeris watched her glide towards the make shift market comprising of a toupee and some produce laid across a few wooden tables and thought to herself how happy she seemed.
This would be the last time she would see Nai Langris alive.
Naeris chanced upon a few more residents of Turun as she walked briskly to her home offering fleeting 'hellos' and 'good morning' as a sea of tunics swarmed to different corners of the village.
"Sorry, first time seeing Nai Langris since she returned" she explained to the figure in front of the oval oak door she so frequently used. Nai Langris had been wrong about the person calling for Naeris and as she inched ever closer to the green and brown coloured home, she could perfectly see it was her sister Filia not Grendell that stood calling her.
"Oh Nai Langris how is she?" Filia spoke in a soft whisper, the early morning was clearly not her favourite time of day.
"She's well, looks like seeing her sons really brightened her up, she also gave me this though I haven't had a chance to open it cos someone was rushing me" Naeris grumbled still peeved by her sister's interruption as she took out the small black box she had received from Mrs Langris.
"Ooh mysterious!" squeaked Filia snatching the box from Naeris's hand. "Let's hope it doesn't blow up on you like all those spells you've been practising. And anyway mother said to fetch you breakfast is getting cold." She continued turning towards the entrance.
Naeris attempted to take back the box but her sister's experience in martial combat proved evident in her swift evasion. Filia was 3 years older than Naeris and 3 inches taller- something she never forgot to remind Naeris of at any given opportunity.
Filia had on her morning robes, a fuchsia cotton tunic that clasped down her middle with a belt sewn in around her lower stomach. . Her amber eyes set against her olive tinged skin was resplendent in any light even the murky mornings of Turun.
Her strawberry blonde slightly coiffed hair bounced as she turned. Usually braided, today it was truly a sight to behold; yellowish pink hair reaching down to her calves. Filia had always been fascinated by the fairy-tale about the merchant princess with ever growing hair and since the age of 3 she refused to cut her hair.
The two girls stepped through the opening fighting over the black box clasped in Filia's dominant hand. Within was a large oval shaped room with 2 connecting rooms on the western and eastern side, both open. From the outside the stark green home looked small but inside it had two floors connected by a wooden spiral staircase; the top dedicated to its three inhabitants rooms and the bottom was for family gatherings, weaponry and the lavatories.
At the back of this room was a small clay stove and some metal and wooden pots and cutlery. In the centre was a well decorated dinner table, lace laid upon oak, an assortment of meat, vegetables and fruit upon that and 3 chairs that formed a triangle on its outside. In the chair directly facing the door with its back to the window sat a burly looking woman with a scowl beginning to form on her face.
"Where have you been? This isn't a big city with food keepers everywhere if it goes bad you starve!"
Grendell finally came into light her disdain ever more present on her face. She was a middle aged woman with a darker auburn hair similar to Filia's than Naeris tied up in a bun. She sat in combat ready attire, a leather sheathed sword by her chair. She looked the spitting image of Filia with gold flecked eyes, a sharp nose and lips slightly larger than her youngest child. Compared to the tunic Filia wore, Grendell's complete leather armour was a much more frequent sight in many Turun homes. Today happened to be the last day of the week; the rest day hence the multitudes of tunics in Turun presently.
Combat was somewhat regarded as the commerce of this kingdom. Many vied to become wondering mercenaries living one meal at a time. Others who possessed exceptional talent could make it to the bigger cities and end up guarding someone of importance or partake in the Eastern war.
The gifted were given much more respect and opportunities whilst those who possessed magick although rare were somewhat looked down on in the southern kingdom. This was mainly due to the desire by its inhabitants to denounce the need for magicks to survive as they had had to for quite a long time.
"Hurry and eat then get ready I've got to head to the riverba- WOULD YOU CEASE THAT INCESSANT FIDDLING!" Grendell seemed to be in a particularly foul mood today, worry plastered across her face or was it stress?
"Hand it over" Grendell beckoned Filia who immediately seemed more alert and rushed to hand the small black box to her mother. Grendell could not retain her look of irritation as she grew puzzled about the content of the box. There seemed to be a trick to opening the box, a parlour trick more so than a defensive mechanism. She fiddled with it for a minute the irritation starting to return to her face.
"Hmm, a teleport pendant" Upon opening the box Grendell extracted an entirely golden pendant with a magus signal etched in purple in its centre. "I suppose this is from Darisa.. you'd do best to keep it safe and close" ended Grendell placing the pendant back into the box and offering it to the petrified Naeris.
Naeris nodded diligently, took the box and placed it up her sleeve. She and Filia took their seats at either sides of their mother and breakfast ensued. Naeris soon dived into conversation about her meeting with Nai Langris and her plans to see her after daily chores and practise. As she spoke, Grendell broke the stoic expression that had taken the place of irritation and smiled warmly her eyes darting between her daughters. It was just a normal rest day.... That's all...
The two sisters even on rest day-the last day of the week, had cloths to wash, sigils to memorise, wood to acquire from the vast Ascar forest that surrounded the village and they always managed to sneak in an hour or so of martial practise. On rest day they also took the weaponry to the blacksmith for repairs and sharpening and once Filia had come back from changing the, Amakiir family prepared to set off on their day.