Lor Mandela - Destruction from Twins (53 page)

Audril was a little
embarrassed that she was being asked to dance by Tabbit.
Oh well
, she
thought,
I guess it’s better than
nothing!
When they reached the edge of the
floor, Tabbit bobbed up and down on her toes a couple of times, and
then skipped merrily off.

“Okay,” she sighed, “maybe it’s not
better.”

“What’s not?” She spun around—shocked by the
voice she’d just heard.

There, clean-shaven, neatly groomed, and
dressed to the nines was Dallin Doone—holding a pale purple
rose—very much alive!

“Here, this is for you.” He gestured toward
Tabbit who was nodding and beaming from ear to ear. He leaned over
and whispered, “She said you wouldn’t dance with me unless I gave
you a flower.”

Audril was speechless. She took the rose
from his hands and just stared at him.

“What?” he chuckled nervously. “You don’t
want to? Ugh! You don’t want to!” He grunted disgustedly. “I knew
it! I look stupid, huh?”

Audril gasped and coughed. “Uh . . . no . .
. no! You don’t look stupid. You look just . . . .”

He raised his hands into dance position.
“Shall we?” he smiled.

She smiled back and took his hands.

The rest of the evening flew by as she and
Dallin danced and talked the whole night away. When the celebration
ended, he didn’t want to leave her.

“You wanna take a walk?” he asked.

“
As a matter of fact, I
do,” she answered. “There’s somewhere I’ve been dying to
see.”

“Really, where?”

She smiled and took him by the arm. “The
Ator’s Anaria.”

He escorted her away from the ballroom and
out toward the main palace doors.

“Wait, not this way.” She pulled him toward
a corridor at the far side of the entrance foyer. "Come on!”

“Where are we going?” he asked as they made
their way down the dim hallway.

“You’ll see.” Audril stopped outside a
wooden door and motioned for Dallin to go in first.

He pushed the door open. “A kitchen?” he
asked.

“Yeah, a kitchen,” she breathed. “This is
where . . .” she took a couple of steps into the room, “where my
mother was killed.” She touched a small crystal on the wall, and a
faint light flickered on. “I just wanna see if this memory . . .
.”

She didn’t finish her thought. She grabbed
Dallin by the hand and led him to the closet at the back of the
room.

“In the floor, under the shelves that line
the back wall,” she breathed.

Dallin opened the closet door and peered
inside. “What are we looking for?” he asked.

Audril slid past him, and walked around to
the back of the shelves. "That!” she answered, pointing. There, in
the floor, was a large dark tunnel. “Come on!” She sat down on the
edge and lowered herself in.

“Are you sure this is safe?” he chuckled as
he dropped down into the hole.

What had been the floor seemed to magically
twist, and was now the ceiling.

“Whoa,” Audril giggled, “that was
weird.”

“Yeah,” Dallin agreed, “which way?”

She shrugged her shoulders, but then pointed
down a long tunnel and they started off. It wasn’t long before the
smooth, muddy stone walls were replaced by twisting, vining tree
roots.

“Wow! I can’t believe this is all down
here,” Audril mused. “It’s awesome!”

Dallin looked at her and smiled. “How did
you know about this? Did your mother tell you?”

“I overheard her talking about it,” she
answered.

They rounded a corner and came to a place
where several tunnels all merged together.

“Which way?” he questioned.

“Let’s try over here.”

He took her by the hand and they continued
on. After a few moments of silence, Audril stopped and turned to
Dallin. Something had been weighing heavily on her mind.

“Dallin,” she tried, “I hope you don’t mind
me asking, but how did you survive that vystoran? I saw it hit
you!”

Audril cringed as his face dropped.

“Oh, uh . . . if you don’t want to tell me,”
she stammered.

“No, it’s all right,” he assured. “You saw
it hit someone, but it wasn’t me.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

Dallin continued, “It was raining and
cloudy.” He paused, then added, “And there were a lotta
shadows.”

“Wait! A dweller?” Audril gasped.

Dallin nodded. “He saw the vystoran comin’
and sorta blended in to me. I didn’t even realize he was there. He
actually stabbed me in the side so I’d look like I was in pain. He
knew that they’d shoot me again if I didn’t go down.”

“What happened to the Dweller?” she asked,
hoping that Dallin would tell her how Dwellers aren’t affected by
vystorans, and how he just ran off into the forest afterwards.

He shook his head sadly.

“But, that doesn’t make sense,” she argued.
“Why would he sacrifice himself like that? Aren’t Dwellers
profiteers?”

“Well, yeah . . . they are, but as a group.
They consider it honorable to sacrifice themselves to profit a
bigger cause.”

“What bigger cause?”

Dallin looked down at his toes and seemed to
blush. “Lortu said that it’s my destiny to protect you from
Ryannon. He told me that as long as Ryannon is alive, I have to
stick around and keep you safe.”

“Keep me safe?” she giggled nervously. “Well
. . . I, um . . . how flattering, sir!”

Suddenly, her eyes and Dallin’s met. She
found herself locked in his gaze as she stared deeply into his
soulful brown eyes. She couldn’t break eye contact and she really
didn’t want to.

Slowly, he leaned closer to her; slowly, she
leaned closer to him. He moved his hands onto her waist and slid
them around and up her back.

“I’m glad you came back,” he whispered.

“I’m glad you did too.”

She tilted her head slightly and closed her
eyes in anticipation. A flood of heat and emotion welled inside of
her as his arms wrapped around her, and he pulled her tightly to
him. She felt his warm breath on her cheek, when suddenly. . .
.

“Ahhhh!
Noooo!”
A scratchy,
squeaky, blood-curdling scream echoed through the tunnels, followed
by a loud crash.

“Tabbit!” Audril gasped.

“Tabbit? Come On!” Dallin grabbed her by the
hand and they sped off toward the direction of Tabbit’s voice.

Audril’s eyes darted around frantically.
“Tabbit,” she called out, “Tabbit! Where are you?”

There was no answer.

“Over here!” Dallin instructed. “I think I
saw something.” He pulled Audril toward what looked like a beam of
light on the floor, which seemed to be coming from a source around
a corner. No sooner had they run across the light, when it
expanded, and there was a loud pop.

“A portal?” Dallin yelped as they emerged.
“I thought the Squanki were s’posed to destroy ‘em all!” He glanced
over at Audril who was staring out at the scene before her in
horror. All of the color had drained from her face, and she was
barely breathing.

He turned to see what had caused such a
reaction, and what he observed was unlike anything he had ever
witnessed before. Piles that looked like they had recently been
buildings lay smoldering across the landscape. Trees and shrubs
were blackened and smoking. There was no movement at all—no
activity and no life whatsoever—for as far as the eye could
see.

“Oh, no.” Audril’s nearly inaudible voice
trembled. “Dallin, we’re in Glenhill.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Dallin caught
sight of the one thing in town that still remained standing. Now,
his face too, bore a look of terror. He reached out and tugged on
the waist of Audril’s dress. She turned her head towards him. He
was looking straight ahead and pointing. She followed the direction
of his finger and there, where Glenhill High School had been
before, a single structure stood intact. It was the school’s
marquee. Across it in black plastic letters were the words,

“
WELCOME BACK, ATOH AUDRIL
BORLOC”.

###

*^*
LOR
MANDELAN TERMS TRANSLATED FOR READERS FROM DROLANA (EARTH)
*^*

Terms with identical spelling as Earth words
have also been added, due to slight variations of meaning.

ad-van-
tiere
General Term : an inspired utterance or prediction

Al
-ter-ing
Event :
a Trysta ritual of change in which an invoker with altering
abilities harnesses power from glow stones to transform into
another being of the same gender

A-
nar
-i-a
Place :1: large tree 2: the place of respite and retreat for the
ator and her guests

A-
ni
-si-a
Mys
-tad
Re
-gion
Place : the most prominent and wealthy region of Mandela City.
Considered the city center, as all council members reside in Anisia
Mystad. Translated from ancient Trysta, Anisia means “overlooking”.
The region gets its name from its location overlooking Mystad
Lake

a
-toc
Hierarchy :
1: the male High Ruler of Lor Mandela 2: a male sovereign

a
-toh
Hierarchy :
female member of the Noble family, usually the daughter of the
atoc

a
-ton
Hierarchy :
male member of the Noble family, usually the son of the atoc

a
-tor
Hierarchy :
1: the entrusted or widow of the atoc 2: female member of the Noble
family equal in rank to the Trysta vritesse

Bogs
Place : 1: area of
the Sybran Forest that is completely devoid of light 2: home of the
Shadow Dwellers

Bol
-der
cham
-ber
Weapons & Defense : a room that can
only be created by the vritesse to provide an impenetrable barrier
against enemies and the elements. (halting creation of a bolder
chamber before completion is usually fatal for the vritesse)

Brash-
nell
Place :
geographically the largest area of Lor Mandela, situated north of
the Mandela mountain range, bordering Westrim to the east and the
Delovic Region of Mandela City to the west

cal
-an-dry
Animal
: large, flying beast of burden from the Northern High Forests.
Rarely seen outside of wooded areas. Related to the rynolt of the
Sybran, distinguishing features include: one crested head, three
curved razor-sharp claws on each foot and black uneven wings.
Calandry are shy creatures, but deadly when provoked. The largest
known calandry on record measured thirty-six hands high at the
shoulder

Cal
-ling
Event :
momentous occasion when a new vritesse is appointed by her
predecessor

Cas-
tine
Re
-gion
Place : (also known as the hills) the
Castine Region is inhabited primarily by soldiers, hunters, fishers
and their families. Comprised of the Foothills of the South and the
Sybran Forest

Cel-e-
bra
-tion
of Light
Event : the
annual social gathering of the heads-of-state and members of the
Council, held in the Terrace Ballroom at Mandela Palace

Chief
Ad-
vi
-sor
Hierarchy : the high-councilor of the
Trysta Empire. Second-in-command to the vritesse and appointed by
her, the chief advisor can be male if deemed worthy by the
vritesse

Com-
pan
-ion
Ser
-vant
Hierarchy : the head servant at
Mandela Palace and lady maid of the ator

Del
-o-vic
Re
-gion
Place : the most populous area of
Mandela City, located east of East Mystad Field and north of the
Lodi Region

Der
-ite
Race : an
ancient people who inhabited Koria prior to the rule of Vritesse
Kamalee. The Derite language is composed primarily of words,
combined with gestures and magic. Creators of the Koria Caverns,
the race was all but wiped out by a supposed volcanic event in the
Caverns in the second year of Kamalee’s rule

de-
rox
-is
Nature : carnivorous plant species that grows in the Eternity Pools
west of Koria. Deroxis appears liquid in its resting state, but
produces large leaf-like appendages as it captures its prey.
Deroxis devours its prey slowly, sometimes over a period of
centuries

Dro-
la
-na
Place : planet in the Drol system located approximately 92.9
million miles from its solar body. Known by its inhabitants as
Earth

East Mys
-tad
Field
Place : the large meadow bordering Mandela
Palace on the East side

en-trust-ed
General Term : life
companion

Ex-
alt
-ing
Event : the process in which an entrusted of a member of the noble
Borloc Family takes on the Borloc traits of black hair and blue
eyes

frol
-nisk
Animal :
small, furry creature of the Sybran. Frolnisk are very common, due
to the large number of pups born in each litter. Some frolnisk
litters can have as many as 200 pups. Domesticated frolnisk have
become common pets particularly in the areas surrounding the
Sybran.

ghan-
den
-tel
General Term : 1: term used to swear a
curse on someone. 2: the ultimate insult

glow stone
Nature :
stones found in the area surrounding the Koria Caverns that have a
natural luminescence. Glow stones are one of the required elements
for a Trysta altering