Lovely part 4! I really love your writing style

Aw, thank you, Opal, that made me so happy :) I feel very sure of myself when I'm describing Naiche; it's like I know really well what kind of person he'd be. @Reuby, I did mention Angel and Ember in the last part, but I'm sorry I haven't been able to focus on everyone's charries equally! @Everyone, I'm trying to get at least one part written from each charrie's perspective, and to incorporate all the students equally, so if yours haven't been in the spotlight much yet, it doesn't mean I won't focus on them at all :)

Here's a "special" part to keep y'all entertained while I work on the next part! It doesn't move the plot forward much, but I wanted to describe the time they spend on the Dairns coast, as well as providing important information that helps explain the plot.

Special Part

It was the students' last day at Castle Arnsilver on the coast of the Dairns. They had arrived a week ago, when the phoenixes brought them to a warm, sunny, grassy coast, next to a castle built of pale, slightly iridescent stone. When the students introduced themselves at the castle gate as the descendants of Archenians, who were escaping from NO, the guards instantly let them in with wide smiles on their faces, and they were shown in to the king. Since then they had been living at the castle, in the luxurious rooms that were given to them, preparing for their journey and learning about "just what exactly has been going on," as Eve put it.

For Shyama Brooks it had been a wonderful week. The royalty and nobles who lived here were different from people she had known back home; they talked differently, of course, in an almost medieval way, but they were also kinder and more enthusastic.

Shyama looked up from her notebook and let her gaze wander over the hall. Firelight shimmered and swayed over the tapestried walls; the embroidered deer and wolves and hunters seemed to move in that quivering light. At one end of the room there was an arched doorway, with tiles around the edge that were inscribed with sayings from the sacred book of the Dairnsfolk. "It's an old tradition that comes really from Candari," the king had explained, "but in recent years we've decided to adopt it ourselves." Through the doorway Shyama could see the kitchen, glowing with firelight and bustling with hurrying figures. The floor was stone, covered in bulrushes to make it softer. The air was full of the scents of the savory soups and fine meats they had just eaten. Servants and waiters were scurrying through, calling out to each other in loud voices. "Did you see to it yet that the Lady Ideola has her flagon of wine?" "Aye, I did, and a shame I consider it for such a fine lady to be drinking it e'en if it be grapeleaf-wine, which isn't real wine at all and can't make anyone tipsy..." The rest of the servant's expostulations died away as he went back into the kitchen.

A little thrill of sadness went over Shyama as she realized that this really was the last night - the last night she might ever spend in this castle. How was it possible that after only a week, this place felt so much like home? She loved every inch of it - the ancient stone walls, the worn wooden table they had eaten on every day, her tiny, bright bedroom upstairs that had a diamond-paned window facing toward the sea. And it wasn't just the place, it was the people. Particularly one person.

They were all gathered just now around the fire in the banqueting hall, talking or listening idly to the minstrel, who was playing very softly on a wooden lute. There were so many dear friends here... The Lady Ideola, a laughing, fair-haired girl who had become friends with Shyama, was sipping her grapeleaf-wine and gazing thoughtfully into the fire. The king, a young and energetic man with an open, honest face and an invigorating air, was standing by the window, looking at a map spread out on the table. Fianal, a dark-haired boy of about seventeen, was perched on the arm of a bench, talking to Eve. And then, of course, there was Rialtas, the fifteen-year-old boy whose father was a minor noble visiting the royal castle. He was... She glanced at him for a second, feeling as always the thrill that went through her whenever she saw his face. She sighed. If only he could come with her when she and the other students left the castle tomorrow.

She glanced down at her notebook, letting the familiar sight of its rough lined pages, covered in her neat handwriting, reassure her. She had always taken notes about things that interested her, and when this week she began to learn about the Dairns and NO and such, she had naturally written everything down in her notebook. To make sure she hadn't missed anything, she began to reread it.

-What are the Dairns?: "Dairns" is actually a nickname for the Kingdom of Dairn, a country bordering the Indarin Sea. It's on the border between the magical world and the human world, and according to an ancient treaty, provides safety to anyone trying to escape from NO. It's currently ruled by King Eliyan.

-Who were the Archenians?: They were magical beings, basically like humans but grander, who lived deep in the magical world. They were extremely powerful but benevolent - so far as anyone knows. A thing called a Great Silence happened centuries ago, nobody knows why, and it made all magical creatures disappear or lose their power. (Before that magic was commonly found both in this world and the human one, but now it's very rare. NO has some, but not as much as you might expect. There are also still some ancient Guardians of magical secrets, deep in the magic world - which, by the way, is known generally as Tallinn.)

-Who are the Aquimans?: A group of soldiers, who fight for private people and organizations, with magical powers. They worked with NO for a long time, but they've just had a rebellion - which, apparently, they've been winning these past few days. They also kidnapped Arya Hazeline, a Unicorn student, that day that they appeared at the sports competition last week.

-Just what is going on??: It seems that when the Great Silence happened and NO began to consolidate power, a prophecy was made that someday the Dairnsfolk, Archenians, Naiads, etc. would rise again and defeat NO. As the years went by and astrologers did more research, they got down the details, until they even found out that Erik and Aurnia and I and all the other students would appear here. Apparently all sorts of things have been happening aside from our escape - the Naiads have awoken again, the Cambirians (another magical group of people) have started to remember their older, more powerful spells again, and so on. It's like the magical world is waking up again. It's actually starting to be called the "Great Awakening." And apparently we're a part of it.

-Who is Iridescence?: Ever since we came to the Dairns I've been hearing mentions of "Iridescence." Yesterday I got Lady Ideola to tell me. She was an Archenian who broke the rules in some way just before the Great Silence and fled to the Northern Wilds to escape everyone's wrath. Nobody knows if she's still alive or not.

I chuckled to myself at that. Then I continued taking a look at what else Shyama had written.

-Why did we end up at the NO schools?: Nobody has any idea. King Eliyan pointed out that we must be mostly human, since our families have never even seemed to know about this, but with a slight bit of Archenian DNA (again, no one knows how that happened) and somehow NO found out that we would be the ones to inherit our ancestors' powers, so they manipulated our parents to send us to their schools. Something like that, anyway.

Shyama closed the notebook. Everything was there. And tomorrow she and the other students, guided by Fianal, would venture deeper into this new world and attempt to begin combating NO - just as the prophecy had promised.

---------------------------

I was actually inspired for the Aquiman rebellion by the Wagner Rebellion in Russia... And Swaine (in the prologue) was inspired by the goalie for the national English soccer team. You never can tell where inspiration will come up. Anyway, that's the end of my random musings for now, and I hope you enjoyed this part :)

I'm signing up a charrie of my own, to make it easier to get charries shipped :)

Name: Alejandro Rowan Guardado Johannson

Pronouns: He/him

Age (13-19, please): 16

Dragon or Unicorn?: Unicorn

Appearance: Dark hair that's the slightest bit curly, dark eyes with long lashes, tanned skin, a cocky but engaging smile, can look soulful or cute if he wants to

Personality: A bit of a live-wire, daring, friendly, is good at and enjoys performing, unpredictable, fun, supportive. He's realistic and has a good head on his shoulders, and is clever at getting out of tight spots. He's very charming and socially skilled, and could come across as the slightest bit cocky, but only in a playful way. He's very loyal and principled. He's also optimistic and really enjoys life.

Most treasured item: His soccer ball. He's a very good soccer player.

Powers: You'll just have to wait and see...

Strengths/weaknesses: He's physically strong and dexterous, and he's quick-thinking and principled. He's also very good at not getting carried away by his imagination. But he can sometimes have trouble seeing the non-obvious, and he might come across as arrogant to some people. He's also kind of sensitive, which could be both a strength and a weakness, I guess.

Background (optional): Just ordinary. A nice family whom he lived with until they suddenly became wealthier and sent him to the poshest boarding school they could find. Being wealthy has really changed his family, and he feels badly about it because it's no longer the happy, loving family he used to know. He's partly Mexican.

Shipping? (Just tell me whether the charrie is open or not): Open, to girls. That's the whole reason I'm including him in this solo write...

oh dear I'm getting very Lucas and Ren vibes from this charrie. (They're characters from Julieta and the Romeos and Love and Gelato, respectively.) Well, never mind, he's also partly based on a real person so there :)

@Celine, I'm glad it cheered you up! I love it when my writing has a positive impact on people :) I hadn't actually thought of making Rialtas be the same person as my Kyngdom charrie, I just liked the name and wanted to reuse it - but now that you've suggested it, that actually is a really good idea. Maybe I will make him be the same person, although I haven't quite decided yet.

@Amarillis, I agree completely!! Julieta and the Romeos is one of my favorites of the books I've read this year lol. Btw, if you want to submit a charrie, go ahead :) BUT after that spots will be closed. I know I said there'd be an unlimited number, but it's getting kind of hard to incorporate everyone, so I think I'll have to stop accepting charries now, sorry :///

Hey there! I'm sorry that I haven't been posting on this thread because I'm rather busy, but I've been following the plot the whole time. I would just like to say that your writing is always inspiring and clear-cut, it's amazing and the story is too. I can't wait for the next part!

Tysm to everyone, your encouragement means so much <3 @~Amarillis~, I think enlarging the text box when you're writing a comment is what makes a comment show up with a funny format. I'm not at all sure, but if you did enlarge the text box when you were writing that comment, maybe that's the explanation. Oh, and @Lyric, I'm sorry to say that I had actually forgotten (oops) about Onyx's ability to spread her illness when I wrote that she had touched Naiche... thanks for pointing that out, I'll have to take it into account as the story goes on. Hmm.

Part 5

Ash felt oddly thoughtful as she set off from Castle Arnsilver with the other students. They were all headed deeper into Tallinn, guided by Fianal, whose father was one of the ancient guardians of magic and might be able to tell them what to do next. It was a bright, cloudless day, but Ash couldn't keep back an odd flicker of worry. 

Really, I can't blame her. It's a very dangerous thing to travel into a world you know nothing about, in search of your ancestors who may or may not be benign, especially when your enemies - both NO and the Aquiman soldiers - are looking for you. I had done something similar once - a long time ago - and broken all the rules to do it, and I'd been plenty worried. Not particularly frightened; it's all nonsense what fantasy novels say nowadays about the characters getting petrified every two seconds for no reason at all; but certainly apprehensive. And if you ask what an Archenian was doing reading the most recent fantasy novels up in the Northern Wilds, I can only say that it got pretty dull up there waiting for the Great Silence to be lifted.

I fell to thinking a bit about the Great Silence as I followed the students out of the castle, absent-mindedly brushing through a servant or walking through a table (such are the advantages of being invisible and intangible). The obvious explanation was that NO, which had been just starting to make itself known then, had somehow used a spell to cancel out everyone else's magic - that was what everyone believed it to be. But nobody seemed to know that there was a different explanation, or at least that it ran deeper than it seemed.

Well, if these kids really did know how to defeat NO and get everything back to the way it used to be, I'd be eternally grateful. I knew, of course, that they were vital to NO's schemes of fully conquering the magical world and the human one at one stroke - since they were part Archenian, part human, they held the key to both worlds. Whether they agreed to give it up or not, remained to be seen. In the meantime, I'd do all I could to help them.

Putting away my thoughts for another time, I quickened my pace and gave myself over to enjoying the day and the journey.

~~~

The journey to Fianal's father's hut took a full day of traveling. Ash would have been amazed enough by the scenery - misty fields, long flat lakes like lochs, and, in the distance, enormous mountains tinted a wistful blue by distance - but she was also interested in observing the other students. She was gifted with a keen ability to understand and read people, and over the course of that day it became evident to her that Erik and Inanna liked each other, as did Aurnia and Derek. And then, of course, Fianal himself was also interesting. He was a boy of about sixteen, with a likable, mischievous face and rather messy dark hair. He seemed to feel that as he was the guide, he ought to make an effort to see that his guests were well-entertained, and he certainly achieved it. None of them knew anything about life in the Dairns, and they were enthralled by Fianal's descriptions.

"When it's Midsummer's Eve," he explained, "which it will be in a few days, everyone from the nearby villages comes to this very lake" (they were passing by the Lake of Caigh just then) "and lights an enormous bonfire, and they throw in pieces of paper on which they've written down everything they're ashamed of or unhappy about from the past year. For us Midsummer's Eve is the start of a new year, so it symbolizes how you can begin again with a clean fresh slate. And then everyone dances and feasts, and sometimes the Aurnians show up and play music for us -"

"The Aurnians?" Aurnia interrupted. She looked a little paler than usual, Ash thought, and her voice was just a little more strained than usual.

"Yeah, why do they have the same name as Aurnia?" Derek wondered aloud.

"It's not what they call themselves," Fianal answered. "It's only us Dairnsfolk who call them that, because - well, I don't really know why. And I don't know how come your parents would have known about the name, Aurnia -" He looked perplexed.

Aurnia was very quiet for the rest of the journey, but nobody took much notice. The sun was setting over the Dairns. The sky was silvery with clouds in the west, straight ahead of them; there was just one spot where the sun shone through, a fiery reddish circle. The light was creamy pastel rose color - odd for a sunset, but somehow, here in the misty, soft-colored Dairns, it seemed natural. Only their footsteps and hushed voices broke the peace of the evening.

"Look," said Ember Sky suddenly.

Ahead, next to a little mossy stream that was glinting where the sunset light caught it, was a tiny wooden hut. It was a little sagging and weatherbeaten. Lichen climbed up the walls, and the roof needed mending. But it was definitely a hut. Ponies were tied up outside. Through the lighted window, the figures of several men were visible.

"That's Father's hut," said Fianal. "Shall we go in?"

They approached. They could hear the noise of the stream now, a liquid, whispering melody that Ash thought she could listen to forever.  But the odd hush that had fallen over the group hadn't lifted. Suddenly the chimney of the hut looked stark and black against the pale sky. Ash suddenly imagined that the house looked like a face, peering at her through the twilight.

"Does only your father live here, Fianal?" Eve asked uneasily.

"Yep, but maybe he has guests," said Fianal.

"He certainly has a lot of them, then," said Angel, looking through the window.

But Fianal went up and knocked at the door.

It opened with a comforting, ruminating creak. Ash saw a heavyset, bearded man standing there, wearing a heavy fur vest and tall boots. A sword hung at his side. He was smiling, a warm, jovial smile.

"Welcome, Fianal, lad!" he exclaimed. "It's a long time you've been away. Ah, and you've brought the descendants of the Archenians, too! Come in, come in. Your father just stepped outside to the outhouse. I and all the other Guardians of Cambir are here; we were having a meeting to decide what to do now that things are looking up again for us magic folks." He ushered them all into a room which was already cramped enough, being full of men nearly as large as himself, and a murmur of greeting arose as the students entered. Ash saw that Fianal still seemed to be on his guard. "Yes, but Uncle -" he began.

The man cut him off. "No, no, no talking until you and the others are warm." He maneuvered them close to the fire. "Now tell us all, lad, what news is there at Arnsilver?"

Fianal began to speak, casually enough, but his eyes were darting from one face to another, as if looking for something - a way of escape? "It was not much changed, but there was one piece of news which I shall tell you presently, for it's hard to tell news as it should be told when one is so icy from the cold journey here." He got up from his stool and walked to the other end of the large fire, which was a bit nearer the door. His voice changed. "Look, there's someone approaching the house," he remarked, taking a few steps closer to the door.

Suddenly one of the men stood up. "Look out!" he shouted to Fianal, "Get out of here while you can!" Quite calmly, Ash saw Fianal open the door and slip outside.

After that she had little idea what happened. Someone landed on top of her, and she was knocked off her stool onto the floor. For a moment she thought she would suffocate with her attacker's pungent, oily smell, then suddenly she felt fresh air wash over her again. Someone was tying her hands behind her back, and her eyes had been blindfolded. From a corner of the room she heard Derek grunt, "Hey!" and then a man's voice: "Tie him up, Donegil."

"Well, that's a job neatly done," said another voice. "It's to be hoped that the boy Fianal can be caught, but in the end the important thing is these Archenian descendants. Come on, let's step outside and see if we can find Girian - the coward traitor, betraying us to Fianal and then following him out the door!"

Heavy footsteps thudded through the room, and then the door creaked once more, and shut.

Ash shivered. What would she do now?