After two weeks (and a lot of writing), we have Part One ready for your perusal.

The extended time taken is justified; it is about four times the length of the Prelude.

An eight word summary of this? Well....

Would you like some CHEESE with your WHINE?

*winks*

Disclaimer and Warning: By continuing to read the story excerpt below, you agree that nearly everything here is original, and belongs to me. All characters are fictional (except for the ones I say are based on people), and any likeness or similarities are coincidences.

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Seasons of Love – Spring

The first thing she heard as she opened her eyes was the cheerful song of birds infusing the atmosphere as the light of the morning sun exerted itself over the gloomy dusk a few hours before. The sound of it gladdened her heart, for less than a fortnight ago the only audible thing that filled the air was the screeching of the cold biting wind.  She had been unused to the frigid air of the wild grasslands of the temperate Alpsari, a land subject to the intense changes in the weather every season.

Fortunately for her, they had only been in the country for half a month before the freezing touch of winter left; leaving instead a soft caress of dew and lilting warmth. It wasn’t long before the reappearance of the sun brought back life as well; birds singing as if to celebrate the coming of the new season. Animals once deep in hibernation, now returned to fill their hungry bellies with food.

Raine had slept well the night before; the members of the group having decided to split up that night’s watch duty between W, Baen and Ephraim. This was mostly because the three men wanted to have an uninterrupted period of rest on alternate nights, and so had opted to split every third night’s guard duty just amongst the three of them, so that they didn’t need to do guard duty for the next two days. 

Thanks to that, Raine had woken up to a beautiful morning, and as she was the first one to be up and about other than Ephraim-who had opted to take the last few hours of guard duty-decided to start the day afresh: By washing herself in a sparkling river of clean water she had spotted earlier in the day.

Interestingly, the rivers of Alpsari had no fish or any other living thing residing in it. Nobody was sure why, but there was a kind of mystical purifying sterility in the water that prohibited any sort of life from growing within. Yet the water helped to quench one’s thirst and was sweet on the tongue, and this made for easy access to drinkable water any time one was in Alpsari. Of course, finding fish to eat was a whole different issue.

The people of Alpsari made use of this water liberally. They drank it, kept it in jars and containers and never had to worry about it turning stale, and most of all, used it for washing. This applied to both clothing and humans, and as it turned out, the river came up to her neck; perfect for her.

While most people, especially in such cold temperatures would’ve preferred to have taken it slow, the Chiatze fighter couldn’t wait any longer. While she wasn’t particularly dirty, Raine hadn’t taken a proper bath in weeks. For most females, that was a horrifying thought. For Raine however, it was a regretful reality, but she still had to deal with it, as travelling together as a group in the middle of the cold winter usually meant that washing was impossible without turning into an icicle or getting hypothermia.

Throwing her clothes and a large towel onto a large rock, she leapt in, resisting the urge to squeal as the shock of the cold river coursed through her body. Her mouth clamped shut, and eventually, as she got used to the temperature, began to just paddle around for a little bit. She relaxed while marvelling at the crystal clear water of the river. When Raine looked down, she could see her own feet standing on top of the smooth, sandy riverbed.

Eventually, when she was done playing around and washing herself up, Raine got out of the river. She paused for a few seconds, enjoying the warmth of the sun upon her body. Slightly shorter than the average Chiatze girl, her towel easily wrapped about her tanned, voluptuous figure. Within a few seconds, she had dried her body with quick efficiency, and slid on her clothes; a leaf-and-wood toned set of padded shirt and leggings, as well a thick black belt around her waist. For footwear, she slipped on a pair of sandals.

Raine had just begun to rub her towel against her black, glistening tresses when the sound of a string instrument reached her ears. She paused, cocking her head as though it could help her hear better, and it did. A voice, singing in tune along with the music, came to her over in the air, and though it wasn’t clear, she recognised the voice immediately.

Wrapping her towel around her neck, Raine moved, her well-built legs solidly pumping their way towards the source of the music. As she did so, a gentle breeze gently stroked her face, and she revelled in its coolness of its touch. Within seconds, the tanned fighter had made her way up the small embankment that neighboured the river she had taken a bath in, and caught sight of the person from whom the music came from.

He himself sat on a small rise, dressed in a simple green shirt as well as navy blue trousers. In his calloused hands was a guitar, its condition painstakingly preserved despite their many travels. As Raine watched from a distance, the musician continued to play, fingers moving across strings surely and easily, producing sounds that put her heart at ease.

The man appeared to be the unassuming sort; his thick white hair unruly and ruffled by the wind, and his blue eyes seemed lost in a trance even as he played. The magic begun however, when he parted his lips, and began to sing.

Raine had definitely heard singers better than he was; in both vocal technique and the voice quality. But there was something about him that was more than just talent; a quiet powerful sensation seemed to have blended in with his voice, creating a raw yet touching baritone-bass that made others fall silent and listen.

When he played and sang, something divine filled the atmosphere.

He first began by simply vocalizing; like wordless soft flames stirring the air, fully in synch and tone with the beautiful strains of music he played on his guitar. Raine resisted the urge to close her eyes, and let be snatched away by the power behind the music, knowing that she could enter into a mild daze if she wasn’t careful.

After him doing so for a few seconds at a time, Raine felt the music changing as though it was beginning to shift into something new. From solemn strength filling the air, it changed to an upbeat drizzle of sound. The music felt like the rising of the sun and a seedling bursting forth from the soil, his fingers plucking select notes from his guitar. The Chiatze girl found herself tapping her feet in time with the beat, and she stopped herself. For two seconds; then she carried on.

Frost let it go
your time its long gone
Together with the snow
The rivers again flow
waters of life
O my friend don’t you know

It’s time to wake
No time to waste
It’s time to live
O come awake now

The words were simple and lyrical, and Raine found herself smiling even as she heard him sing. Judging by his earnest trepidation, she could tell that it was a new song that he was not used to yet. Still, the woman enjoyed hearing him sing, and continued listening when he broke into the chorus.

The Light it blooms
breaking through the clouds
And it’s so beautiful
that even the birds sing about

The Morning looms
dancing stars run out
And it’s so wonderful
that even the rocks sing aloud

The song was apt, thought Raine, even as he sung the chorus again. The cold season was gone and a fresh new start had come to the land; where life seems to have taken over where ice and snow once left emptiness and death. She was beginning to enjoy the song more when the musician, in experimenting with the tone of its chorus, had reached a little too high, and his voice cracked.

Almost immediately the music stopped, and silence very quickly blanketed the area. Raine’s reverie broke, and she blinked several times in stupefaction, before she realised she was just standing there staring slack-jawed at the white-haired guitar player.

He, of course, had noticed her by now. His cerulean eyes stared in her direction, and he gave a slightly bemused expression at her presence. “You’ve been standing there for quite awhile, haven’t you?” He called out with a smile on his face. The Chiatze fighter felt her face begin to flush, and quickly yelled back.

“Well, long enough to hear that!” She retorted, her stance incredibly defensive. “What were you trying to do, imitate a mouse squeaking?” This time, it was his turn to blush. He shrugged once, and smiled sheepishly.

“Maybe?”

Raine couldn’t help but smile, but she quickly schooled it into a haughty expression as she stiffly walked over. As she walked, her hands reached behind her head, tying her thick black hair into a ponytail, before sitting down beside him.

Gavyn Gairn lifted his hand, and greeted her loosely. “Good morning.” His clear blue eyes remained on her, and feeling slightly uncomfortable under his gaze, she rolled her eyes. “Good morning? What was that? You scare every single creature living here off with that horrible screech of yours and all you can say is ‘Good morning’?” The bard scratched his head awkwardly and chuckled nervously.

“Sorry,” He pleaded, and Raine cut him off with another barb. It was a daily routine of sorts for the both of them, her poking fun and scolding him for all sorts of unimportant things while he simply laughed and apologized when he felt the need to. She was being tart, that she knew, but Gavyn was so fun to be with that she couldn’t help but be that way with him.

“Seriously,” She shook her head as she crossed her arms under her breasts. “The composer of that song must be screaming out for a mage to reanimate his corpse to choke the life out of you.”

At this Gavyn’s lips turned slightly upward. “Well, that’s not possible.” Raine blinked, a little confused at his reply. “Why’s that?” The bard’s smile widened.

“I just wrote that song.”

Raine opened her mouth to throw a jibe at him, but after a while realised that she didn’t really have anything to say. For a song that had been composed on the spot, she thought it was pretty good, and personally had nothing to say.

She was saved however, by a bestial roar that nearly deafened the both of them and made her knees weaken. A grizzly bear, probably just awakened from hibernation and searching for food, now stood a mere twenty to thirty metres away from the two of them. She was completely unarmed while Gavyn only had his guitar.

In other words, the both of them were probably going to get eaten. Even so, both did not realise that the bear had been attracted by the song earlier on. Now that music no longer occupied its mind, food did. That was probably what the two of them were to the grizzly as it roared once again and charged, a rippling mass of fur, muscle and claws hurtling through the air. Raine, trained fighter that she was, immediately called for the bard to get behind her and run for help. She on the other hand, ran towards the oncoming beast.

Most people would have quailed and run, their minds long ago resigned to the fact that there was no way they could survive against a hungry, adult grizzly bear, let alone completely unarmed.

Raine however, had only one thing in her mind.

Keep Gavyn safe! That single train of thought repeated in her head over and over again. There was no space for anything else in her mind; only that he would suffer no harm. She sprinted towards the grizzly, keeping her breath steady and entering into a state of intense focus until her mind was clear.

No sun. No grass. No earth. Such was the concentration of the Chiatze fighter that everything unnecessary had been blanked out; her eyes fixed upon the target that she was rushing towards.

No exhaustion. No pain. No fear.  Raine Orealis now only saw, felt, smelt and heard Gavyn and the grizzly. All other things were irrelevant; not the protesting muscles of her body, not the breath in her lungs, not the constant screaming in her mind that there is no way you can face this you will die you will die you will die; no, Raine Orealis was no longer a thinking, feeling human being.

She was now a weapon. Weapons only killed, maimed or subdued. There was nothing else for her.

What seemed like a long time in her perception was only bare seconds in reality, and suddenly the huge paw of the grizzly appeared before her face. The grizzly was fast for an animal of its size, and many who underestimated the creature's alacrity paid for it with their lives.

A weapon did not underestimate, nor did it over-esteem its foe. It simply strove to overcome the enemy and protect its master. Raine swayed backwards immediately, feeling a gust of wind pass over her face as the bear barely missed smashing her head off.

Raine reacted, using the slight opening to deliver a desperate flurry blows into the bear's chest, using every bit of strength and every ounce of speed she still had within her. Loud thuds resounded as her strikes found their mark, and for a brief moment, Raine believed she had the upper hand.

But punches that would have broken a man's face and kicks that would have cracked a strong man's ribs did nothing but irritate the enormous carnivore. The bear roared, and returned a backhanded swing that Raine, in middle of throwing a punch, was helpless to avoid.

Just as a weapon could kill, maim or subdue, a weapon could also break.

Its thick left forearm caught Raine in the chest, and the immense force behind it caused her to black out for a few moments. When she regained consciousness, Raine found herself in the air, several feet off the ground. Reflexively, she shifted into the safest position she could get into to minimise the impact, and the second she did so, slammed into the ground.

She was alive, and miraculously no bones had been broken, judging by the relative lack of pain in her body. Raine had broken quite a few of them before, and she knew all too well how it felt like. Still, the impact had taken the breath and wits out of her, and as she struggled to regain both of them and stand, the bear rushed towards her.

She watched as the large grizzly lumbered towards her, its face a terrifying visage of fury and rage. In her dazed and weakened state, Raine could only sit and stare dumbly as death in animal form raced towards her, jaws opening wide to rip her throat apart.

Several metres away from her, the bear's face suddenly exploded in blue flames, and the grizzly reared backwards in agony. Turning around, Raine saw Gavyn with his right arm extended, hand open and empty, as if he had just thrown something at the creature. With a flash, she recalled that the bard often carried a pouch of explosive powder with him, usually to perform some sort illusion or trick in his performances. Judging by the amount of flames licking away at the grizzly's face, she guessed that Gavyn had used the entire pouch in one throw.

As the bear continued to flail about in pain, Gavyn walked coolly towards Raine and the bear, stopping only when he was several paces away from the bear.

“Get away from her, you mad bag of fur, or I'll turn your skin into a new set of boots.” Gavyn Gairn spoke quietly, but his words were filled with enough menace that even the bear stopped thrashing, and met the steely blue-eyed gaze of the bard.

The bear growled once, and then moved in the direction of Gavyn, who stood still while staring down the grizzly. Raine, still affected by the blow and subsequent impact, remained helpless as she watched the great carnivore approach Gavyn.

Move! Please, move! She railed at her body, but the most she could do was to lift one shivering arm uselessly off the grass. While stronger than the average woman or man, every human body had its limits, and this was where she had met hers.

Her eyes wet with tears of frustration, Raine watched as the massive bear reached Gavyn, and stood on its hind feet. Gavyn, only slightly taller than the shorter-than-average Raine, barely reached its mid-riff. The fearsome beast roared once more at the puny figure obstructing his way and raised its enormous paw above its head, preparing to tear off the white-topped head of the bard in front of him.

Music suddenly burst forth from Gavyn’s guitar as he gave the strings a hard strum, while he sang, his usually laconic tone suddenly filled with strength and conviction. The chords were simple, but there was a divine power behind the music and bolstering his words:

E’sul is my Guard
and my Protection;
Whom shall I fear? Whom shall I fear?
He is the Preserver of my Life;
Whom shall I fear? Whom shall I fear?

The bear suddenly halted, rooted to the spot in an uncomfortable position. Gavyn continued singing, his voice increasing in volume and strength as he sang the chorus repeatedly. As he did so, the grizzly’s struggles gradually weakened, seemingly restrained by a tightening pair of enormous unseen hands.

Raine watched in silent amazement as the power of the song flowed from Gavyn, and washed over her. Where her chest and abdominal muscles once burned with pain, back aching from the force of her fall, they now were soothed, as if healing ointment was rubbed all over. Energy returned to her limbs, and her addled mind regained its focus.

Eventually, the grizzly stopped moving, its baleful black eyes now dull. Raine stood to her feet once her full strength returned to her, though she wasn’t sure if she could move just yet. There was no pain, even when out of her state of intensified focus, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to risk adding more injuries just yet.

What she saw in the next moment made her throw that out the window immediately. Gavyn’s voice and playing remained steady and filled with power, but his legs stood unevenly, and rivulets of perspiration, even though it was still in the cool morning, streamed down the side of his face incessantly. It was clear that the bard could not keep this up for much longer.

Without hesitation, Raine looked around her for a solid object; anything hard that could be used for a weapon, and found a smooth stone slightly larger than her fist, only a few inches away from her. She quickly snatched it up in her hand.

Summoning every bit of strength she had in her powerful legs, Raine burst forward. Moving as fast as she could, she flashed towards Gavyn, her feet kicking up clumps of earth as she sped towards the motionless bear.

Two paces away from Gavyn’s back, Raine shifted her body’s movements. She transferred the immense momentum built up in her sturdy leg muscles up into her equally solid right arm, and hurled the rock with everything that she had.

The rock, thrown with all the force Raine possessed and empowered by the divine strength that Gavyn brought upon his friend, rocketed forward so quickly that all Raine and Gavyn saw was it disappearing from her hand.

A split second later, the stone was completely embedded into the paralyzed grizzly’s skull. The resounding crack it made caused Gavyn to stop playing, and both bard and bear fell over at the same time.

Fortunately, while the grizzly collapsed onto the floor, Gavyn fell nicely into the arms of Raine, who was just in the right place to catch him. “Got you,” Raine smiled at the tired bard, and Gavyn answered her with a tired but grateful one of his own. She slowly set him down on the grass, making sure the ground below had no rocks or hard objects of any sort. When that was done, she sat herself done beside him, and gave the bard a critical look.

“Are you okay?” “You alright?”

Their voices cancelled each other out, and both of them flushed before pausing to see who would wait for each other. Unsure who would speak first, Gavyn motioned for Raine to begin, and she nodded, her tanned face still a little bit pink.

“Um, how are you feeling?” Raine ventured, her dark eyes shyly scanning the bard’s face. Gavyn shrugged in reply. “A little light-headed, but I suspect I’ll be okay after awhile. What about you? I think that bear struck you pretty hard, judging from how far you flew when you got hit.”

Raine developed an uncomfortable look on her face, and looked down at herself uncertainly. While her body seemed to still be functioning fairly well, Gavyn was right. A direct blow from a grizzly usually killed people or at least seriously injured them. No matter how strong she was, there was no way for her body to have survived something like that, let alone escape unscathed.

“Let me take a look.” When Raine gave him a questioning look, Gavyn explained. “I learnt a little bit about mending bones; while I may not be able to fix it completely like a true healer can, I can help you set any broken bones properly and help you increase the rate of your healing.” The battle-experienced Raine already knew how to deal with broken bones, but seeing earnest he was to help, allowed him to check her body.

Instantly Gavyn went to work, his face fixed in a mixed expression of worry and concentration. Raine, wanting to tell him not to worry, and yet oddly pleased by Gavyn’s show of concern, simply observed him as he examined her body for possible internal injuries. When he checked her ribs, the most probable place for any internal or serious injuries, the bard’s face looked slightly puzzled.

“This is...amazing,” Gavyn’s tone was filled with awe and astonishment as his skilled fingers pressed lightly along her ribcage as he faced the black-haired fighter. “Raine, your body...it’s in perfect condition! There’s no way it should be, but it is! There’s no injury whatsoever!” Gavyn’s beautiful blue eyes shone with wonder, and Raine suddenly found that it was a little harder to breathe.

“W-well…it obviously is! A-and besides, what do you mean by that?” Raine stuttered as she fought, her eyes narrowing in mock indignation, and her tone became suspicious. “Why, did you want me to get hurt?” Hearing thus, Gavyn protested immediately, his voice going into his usual whine. “No, of course I didn’t!”

Raine gave him an unconvinced look, and snorted. “You sure sounded like you wanted me to.”

At this, Gavyn’s tone changed, his anger suddenly coming to fore. “No, I did not, Raine! When I saw you get hit by the bear, I thought you were dead! You have no idea, Raine Orealis, how I felt when I saw you get knocked aside like you were some child’s doll!” Gavyn’s shaggy ashen hair fell over his face, shrouding his eyes in shadow.

“Before I saw you get up, I thought you were dead! Do you know how the mere thought of that makes me feel? Do you realise that in mere seconds, my world fell apart when I saw the beast strike you, and put back together again when I saw that you still lived?” He lifted his head a little, and Raine saw that his eyes, once bright like the afternoon sky, were now clouded with deep, unfathomable emotions.

“You...pain me, Raine. Going ahead and leaving me behind like that, getting hit by the grizzly like that, saying things like that...it hurts, Raine.” Gavyn turned his face away, and instantly Raine was contrite, her heart feeling uncomfortably tight. She had no idea the bard felt this strongly for her. While she was instantly regretful about the things she said to him, somehow knowing that he was this concerned for her made her happy.

 “I’m...sorry, Gavyn. ...I didn’t mean it like that, you know?” The pony-tailed Raine bit her lip as she spoke, not sure how he would react to his words.

Much to her relief, the bard simply smiled, and all the unhappiness on his face had vanished. “It’s okay. I’m just immensely glad that you’re safe.” Raine inwardly breathed out, cheered that Gavyn wasn’t too angry with her. They remained like this for the next few seconds in a comfortable silence, until Raine realised something.

“Uhm, Gavyn? Your hands are still on my....”

Almost immediately Gavyn yelped, and pulled them back, as if he had just touched a bonfire. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realise...I...” He apologized profusely, and Raine, her blushing face mirroring Gavyn’s own reddened countenance, tried to laugh it off so as not to make things even more awkward for the both of them.

“No no, it’s nothing.” Raine waved her hands dismissively. “I guess you wouldn’t have needed to check if I hadn’t been so useless at protecting you.” She gave a small twisted, rueful smile as she looked away from him. “Besides, I know you wouldn’t try anything funny with me. My body’s unwomanly and unattractive; not slim like Fayth’s or Elynn’s anyway.” She flexed her right arm twice for emphasis and laughed again, ignoring the old bitter stab of self-loathing somewhere within. She knew better than to believe things like that, but then her guard was down.

A warm, calloused hand suddenly took her outstretched right, surprising her. Unsure of what Gavyn was trying to do, she met his gaze, and found the normally mild Gavyn staring at her with a pensive look on his face.

“…Gavyn?” Raine asked, a little uncertain about what he was trying to do.

“You’re not…”Gavyn spoke, his voice trailing off before picking up again. “You’re not useless, Raine. Your speed and strength is something that I admire, and something that all of us-not just me-needs. And at the end of the day, I wasn’t the one who got himself hurt because I tried to protect someone. I wasn’t the one who managed to kill the bear. I wasn’t the one who ensured that I’d be there to catch anyone who fell.” Gavyn paused for additional emphasis, before he continued.

“You were.”

Her face beginning to heat up again, Raine tried to speak; to brush it off or even say a word of thanks, but Gavyn cut her off by maintaining a firm but gentle hold on her hand. Bringing it up to her face, Gavyn turned her hand over and back again, as if examining something extremely rare and precious to him. He carried on this way for a nearly a minute or so, and Raine knew he was simply gathering his thoughts.

“Again you are ignorant.” The bard finally spoke, his voice soft yet affectionately reproving. “Or perhaps you are being wilful. But if I have to remind you over and over again, I will.” He began stroking her warrior’s hand with his fingers, and spoke again. “There is nothing that is unwomanly or unattractive about you, Raine. This,” He lifted her hand slightly to indicate what he was talking about. “Was crafted by the same Hand that created the two you mentioned, and every other woman on this planet is the same.”

“Again you have no idea, Raine.” The Proskunei Song-Marshall continued on, his sapphire-like eyes gazing at her with deeply set emotions that she couldn’t identify, couldn’t understand why they made her heart suddenly tighten. “Of how lovely you are; of how it’s not just about how you look, but how you live your life. If you cannot believe completely that you are the beautiful woman that I say you are, at least trust the One who sculpted your every feature. He made you wondrously; and calls you His Beautiful Beloved.”

“Again you do not see, my dear, foolish girl.” Gavyn smiled wistfully, and she found herself drawing closer to the white-haired man. “You are immensely attractive to me, so much so that I find myself wondering how I can forbear from reaching out to you, from rashly entering into something...deep without knowing E’sul’s will for us.”

Gavyn lifted his fingers and drew back a stray lock of hair that had fallen over her face earlier during the fight with the grizzly. But his hand remained there, behind her ear, as if beholding a work of art by the greatest artist in the world. Raine, much to her discomfiture, found herself unconsciously leaning against his warm, rough fingers.

“Not only am I pulled to your outward beauty that these weak, human eyes of mine can only see, but something within you draws me closer; your passion for the glory of E’sul, your fire as you live your life out, your dedication to love others and to raise up the younger Followers of E’sul...They inspire me, Raine.” He chuckled, his laughter like the trickling of a stream. “You inspire me. Besides, it’s not as if anyone will look the way they do in about fifty years time, when you and I’ll be well past seventy.” He paused, as if considering something important, before he quipped.

“Although my hair will probably stay the same, unless of course, it turns black...”

Raine giggled at the mental image his words formed in her head, and the two enjoyed a short moment of quiet laughter together. What Gavyn said next however, nearly caused her heart to jump out of her chest.

“But I know that even then, I’ll still be deeply, intensely attracted to you.”

He said the words very simply, without flair or drama like how a certain paladin friend of theirs probably would, and yet it stilled the air around them, as if he’d just spoken a word of prophecy. Raine would be having goosebumps if not for the fact she was feeling incredibly happy, touched and embarrassed at the same time.

Being this close to Gavyn, with her face-now the shade of a rose-enjoying the feel of his well-worn hand, also pricked something deep within her. All of a sudden, her vision seemed to narrow, and all that her senses could perceive was Gavyn Gairn; his kind face all of a sudden dangerously close, their noses not that far away from each other. At this distance, she found herself falling through the skies that were his eyes, and slowly, but steadily, she felt the both of them begin to shorten that already small gap even more.

As they did so, she heard a trio of small whispers in the hazy background. At first she thought nothing of it, but her warrior’s senses naturally heightened, and immediately she could hear what the three were repeating over, and over again.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” The three excited voices grew louder and louder, and as they did, they became more and more familiar. Raine quickly snapped herself out of her reverie to stand up, and glare in the direction from which it came from.

Several feet away from them, hiding behind what was probably the only bush in a hundred-foot radius, hid the three men who had been gleefully watching the couple. Raine’s eyes narrowed lividly, and she managed to make out who the three of them were.

Baen, W and Gaius, having realised that they’d been heard, stopped chanting. It was too late for them, of course. Raine’s face was a swirling maelstrom of varying emotions, from embarrassment at being seen, to anger at the three for their interruption, to regret at not being able to finish what she and Gavyn had nearly begun, and finally mortification when she realised that all three emotions meant she was very, very much enraptured by Gavyn. Anger quickly took over, especially when she saw that Gavyn’s head looked very much like a round brick with snow on top.

“...You voyeurs.” Raine growled, her eyes now blazing augurs of black coal. “I see you really want to die that much, huh?” The three of them stood up slowly, as if being approached by a wild and very dangerous animal.

Like a bear, thought W. Then his eyes caught sight of the dead grizzly, and he shook his head. Nope. Worse. Much, much worse. She’s learnt quite a lot from Daia. Her intent to kill is quite scary.

“No, not really. We just thought we’d, you know, push you two along for a little bit.” Baen explained, as though he’d just been caught sneaking muffins from the oven, rather than watching and then ruining Gavyn and Raine’s private moment, and in the process giving Raine very, very violent tendencies towards the three of them.

“...I think she’s angry.” Gaius quietly pointed out to his friends, and Raine’s eyebrow twitched, but said nothing.

Instead, she picked up a stone.

“Ah.” W said as he saw Raine turn her burning gaze on them again. “Shall we run?” He asked his friends, and the two of them gave her a quick glance. “From the Bear-killer?” Gaius, ever the wordsmith, worsened the situation. The two of them didn’t even wait for him when a stone suddenly flew between their faces.

They ran, and the Chiatze warrior easily chased after them, screaming threats and various ways and means she would turn them into food for her dinner tonight. They trampled the grass beneath their feet as they did, and after they had all left, continued to grow, without ceasing and with strength, in the growing heat and light of the afternoon sun.

******

This is almost fresh from the oven. There's still a lot of mistakes, and I'll come back to work on it a little, but that's about the gist of it.

First things first.

All 'girlfriends/wives/boyfriends/husbands' are merely hypothetical personifications of 'the One for Them'. That means, if Junhao is fated to marry a girl named...Lucy. Uhm, right. Then 'Jasmeen Llannon' will actually be 'Lucy'.

Understood? Good. I don't need any scandalicious material (created by myself, no less) used against me.

'Spring' was a wonderful opportunity for me to explore Gavin's character. I've never written about him before, considering that he always gets shafted due to his being a bard, whose combat abilities are probably...none. Yeah, he kinda failed in the choice of classes because he didn't choose first.Gavin probably wanted to be a different sort of character, but I wanted some uhm, diversity amongst the characters. What's the point of having two assassins anyway?. And so, he's a bard.

However, it turns out he has a Crowning Moment of Awesome anyway, and with the ability to bind the enemy and heal and strengthen your friends just by jamming, he becomes extremely crucial for any group of friends. Praise is Power, indeed.

Fact: Gavin's first answer to the 'Would you like a girlfriend' question I posed was: "Yes. I want a mermaid."

After I knocked some sense into him verbally, without even stating the problem with mermaids or worse, he decided to not go for Ariel per se, and head for Wonder Woman territory. ...Right.

Thus, Raine Orealis was born: warrior girl who's tough enough to fight a bear unarmed and unarmoured. Not even Xena could do something like that, though her chainmail bikini doesn't really seem like armour anyway...Oh well. The whole insecurity issue also comes with the girl.

Actually, not just her. All through my life (well, just since fourteen), I've seen plenty of beautiful and pretty girls I've known all suffer from it some time or another. It's as if there was a massive, gender-only curse upon the entire species of females in particular. It doesn't matter if there's actually someone out there who is absolutely bonkers about her. It doesn't matter if there's a perfect GOD out there who made her with His own hands. No, she's not pretty at all, and she has to resort to all sorts of terrible things to make herself secure. Example: Sleeping with a different guy every night, forcing herself to not be herself, terrible habits that harm her body.

Sigh.

Raine naturally has it, because let's face it: with nearly everyone praising the hotness of Megan Fox and before that, Angelina Jolie, every girl out there without their sort of figure and face will think that nobody will want someone like them, despite there being at least 5 guys and a God out there who thinks she's the coolest thing since uh...cheese. Yeah.

Note to self: I need to read more kissing scenes. It got unbearably hard in the emotionally intense moment because...well, it's all very new to me, and usually it's my emotions and imagination drives my writing. It's kinda like watching a horror movie without the music and then the ghost; every five minutes I had to stop and wonder, how in the world does Raine feel at this point? What about Gavin? Wait, what the heck am I even writing?

Seasons of Love - my hardest project yet.

Every castle or keep in the world had a dungeon. It was something that was writ in stone; even if the castle was once a headquarters for what was once known as the E’sul’s Hand of Compassion: the Knights Hospitaller; one of three branches within the enormous entity that was the Knights Imperial. As headquarters to the Knights Hospitaller, this castle once served as a safe refuge for injured or sick men, women and children, where those Imperials called to the life of service and healing committed to healing their injuries and eradicating their sicknesses.

The dungeon was a small affair, consisting of only ten cells, divided into two rows of five by a pathway leading to the warden’s room. It was only used for the worst of criminals; for murderers who found themselves injured by the last efforts of their victims, or those who counted themselves mortal enemies of the Knights Imperial, and would stop at nothing to slay them.

Interestingly, the dungeon was actually connected to a series of underground tunnels leading to the outside of the castle, secretly constructed by one of the former Masters of the Knights Hospitaller to facilitate an evacuation if need be. Of course, that enterprising man never expected his underground tunnel network to end up being an escape route from the outside instead.

A trapdoor suddenly swung open from the middle of the corridor, and a man’s head rose up cautiously, his eyes darting around and nodded once. He quickly clambered out, revealing his massive figure covered in plate armour before offering a hand to the next person, a small, pretty Chiatze woman whose dark eyes scanned the area as she got up, as if unsure of the bigger man’s ability to scout for enemies.

“So, this is it?"

Altogether there were four, two male and two female, bloodstained figures who climbed out of the man-sized trapdoor in the corridor. The man who had initially emerged wore what first appeared to be a light blue tabard, but on a closer look was actually an apron with several handles sticking out of it. The girl whom he had pulled out after him was the smaller of the two women. She had on top of her sleeveless leather breastplate and leggings, a hooded cloak over her, which covered most of her body. Every article she had was black, allowing her to fade into the shadows easily.

"It's a dungeon. What did you expect?"

The speaker was the other man-oldest amongst the four-and unlike the aproned warrior, was both lithe and slender, nearly like a girl. He was similarly covered in silver light plate armour, enchanted for maximum protection with minimum weight. Instead of carrying two large cleavers on his back, there was a finely-crafted longsword which hung by his side.

"I don't hear any zombies around here. I guess we're safe; for now..."

Just next to him, stood a tall, long-haired lady whose grey robes were so spattered with gore that less than a quarter of her clothing remained that colour. She was very pretty, though exhaustion and lack of proper rest, evidenced by the shadows under her eyes, marred her beauty in no small way.

The four of them shared many things in common, all of them were Chiatze, as well as members of E'sulian group, Naekalture.

"Martilas, can you please stick together?" The black-clad female growled as knives suddenly flashed into her hands. "We can hardly afford you running off and getting yourself killed without any of us to help."

Martilas guffawed, "It'll take a lot more than a bunch of brainless undead to kill me."

"No, they can't kill you. They'll just make so many holes in your body, force me to use up all my spiritual energy healing you, and then cause the rest of us to die." The older man commented dryly.

Martilas blinked, before grinning again. "It's not so bad now, is it Gaius? I can heal myself. You're not the only paladin in this room."

"The difference between me and you," Gaius narrowed his eyes. "Is that you spend nearly all your power on rushing into the next group of undead minding their own business, leaving me to heal everyone else."

"Alright, enough! We're wasting time here talking." The black-clad woman interjected with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Laeia, you ready to go?"

Laeia, whose eyes had been closed, now opened them and nodded. "I'm okay, Jolina." She then pointed at the door. "Let's go."

The four of them then moved as one, with Martilas in front, and Jolina next, followed by Laeia and finally Gaius. They quickly moved into the warden's room, which was empty as well, and found a huge stash of different items.

First was the abundant amount of concentrated holy oil. Or rather, the nearly absurd amount of glass vials of it. Unfortunately, each of them could only carry one of those, due to the lack of carrying space-which Gaius complained about not having his bag along for it.-though it was probably a good thing.

Concentrated holy oil had the propensity to combust when in contact with any sort of tainted air, which the entire region was probably filled with. That meant that once broken, the oil would simply ignite, unleashing holy fire on whatever the oil made contact with.

Concentrated holy oil also had the property of burning even non-evil beings, due to the presence of Juui in every part of Creation. All four of them had had the unfortunate experience of getting scorched by its flames, and had no intention of being burnt again.

That was probably why only Martilas carried any vials with him. Gaius instead carried tiny crystals that he imbued with the holy power of the Lifelight. Its was odd, but somehow the crystals attracted the attention of the undead more than anything else. They would run, chase and surround it, as if drawn like moths to a flame.

They died too, like moths in fire; the crystals would eventually explode, releasing a nova of holy energy, incinerating any zombie caught in the blast. It was far less dangerous than the oil vials, and a lot more useful, in Gaius' opinion.

"Epver wonder why they'd have so many knives and weapons right in front of the dungeon cells?" Laeia asked. Jolina said nothing, only choosing to slip as many knives as possible into her cloak, having exhausted nearly all of them earlier on. The assassin was accurate, taking down every zombie she sunk a knife in with one throw, but she was too disgusted and tired to keep retrieving her knives. Besides, there was an abundance of leftover weaponry from the Knights Hospitaller's previous occupation.

When they were finally done, they exited the room, by climbing a winding flight of stairs, illuminated by a floating ball of light over each of their heads.

Outside, they found themselves in a huge courtyard, stretching for about a hundred metres from one end to the other. The actual keep building-where they had to get to- was all the way across from where they were.

Between them however, were groups of zombies roaming the courtyard aimlessly, numbering in what seemed to be nearly a hundred. The four of them froze, not knowing what to do at first. Then a zombie standing fifteen feet away from them turned head in their direction.

For a moment, the zombie seemed not to react. As one, they held their breath.

Then he snarled, and the other nine zombies turned to face them.

"Oh crap." Was the last thing Gaius said when all of them broke into a run towards them, snarling and growling.

Martilas had already reacted way back then, charging into the group with his cleavers raised and swinging. Even before Laeia raised her hand to unleash her magic, the chef paladin had already decapitated two of them.

Very swiftly, three knives followed his lead, thudding into the decaying skulls of three zombies who immediately crumpled to the ground. The remaining four leapt onto Martilas, attempting to swarm him, but all that happened was them getting sliced and chopped up into several smaller pieces.

This attack caught the attention of the rest of the groups, and they came, one bunch after another, all seeking to rend and tear the four of them to pieces.

Gaius lifted his left hand, and pointed his both index and middle fingers at the oncoming bodies. Summoning the power of the Lifelight from within, he fired bolts of holy power at them. Golden bolts of light ripped into the zombies, sending them sprawling to the ground.

While Martilas' charge had dented the force of the attacks, he became like a rock in the middle of a river, and the zombies not trying to kill the cleaver-wielder swarmed around him, sweeping towards the three.

Gaius and Jolina continued to down as many zombies as they could, shining volleys of holy bolts burning holes and barrages of knives flying through the air, and yet the horde of undead continued to rush at them, albeit lessened in number.

Then Laeia raised her hands, facing her palms towards the oncoming zombies. Immediately, a roar sounded in their ears as the wind suddenly seemed to explode around them. Cutting winds burst forth from Laeia's hands, and they sliced through the zombies as effectively as any well-sharpened blade.

The undead died by the tens, struck down by cleaver, knife, holy power or razor wind. By the time they finally reached the three friends, there were only five of them left. They were easily dispatched by Jolina, whose flashing long knives cut open throats and removed limbs far too easily.

"Anyone hurt?" Gaius asked, his eyes examining both women. They shook their heads.

"I am!" Martilas called several feet before them. Despite his skill with his cleavers, he had still sustained quite a number of bruises from the horde.

"I guess not. Let's carry on." Gaius shrugged, pointedly ignoring the rotund chef. He carried on, motioning for the two women to follow him. Martilas blinked, then started to bluster, his hands waving in the air frantically.

Gaius remained impassive, nonchalantly striding across the courtyard, and briskly entering the keep. Jolina and Laeia simply glanced at each other and laughed before following him in.

Martilas continued to blab, his voice increasing in pitch as he ran after his friends. As he moved through the doorway, a ball of golden light suddenly slammed into him and he fell back out into the courtyard. However, instead of burning holes in his chest like it did the zombies, the scratches on his face closed up instead, and the chef grinned.

"Thanks Gaius!" He yelled, and went in after his friends.

******

I've been on a dry spell in writing lately.

Maybe it's because of my little issues. Or even the possible loss of my Gift. You know; stop using it and you lose it?

I don't know. I haven't even been able to finish a single chapter of my latest 7-parter.

I wrote this a long time back; when I thought I had time, energy, and discipline.

Couldn't even finish this back then too. Decided to just toss it out here after finding it; can't even add to it no more.

I need a recharge. Don't get me wrong; Encounter was great. But this is going to take something else; something spectacular on a daily basis, something that it'll turn me into someone else.

Someone whom nobody else will recognize; and only He who sees us as we are destined to be will.

Until then, you'll just have to settle for broken ol' me.