Pages | Chapter 16 | Meet the Lurans

[marsgemwrites]

We meet the wonderful brak family known as the Lurans and some new information is unveiled.
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Chapter 16. Meet the Lurans

The air was crisp on that Friday morning. Erin looked around as she stepped off the airship. It was a pleasant thought knowing she would be on dry, solid land for several weeks now. No more ships for a while.

Sevadus had landed the airship roughly ten minutes away from where the Lurans lived. He said their house was in the forest. Erin couldn't help but think it cliché, but looked forward to seeing a real elf, or brak house.

They set off towards the forest they had landed next to. Sevadus and Chad leading the way, Erin and Vechs walking behind. Erin breathed in the earthy scents of the country she'd just landed in. She missed many things about Earth, but the air here was clean and smelled amazing. She was getting used to not having technology, something she admitted to being a little thrown by when she first arrived.

Vechs and Chad had done some talking on the journey over. They'd had twenty-four hours to kill, Erin had made sure they spent it wisely.

Erin looked up at Vechs thoughtfully. He had his goggles pushed up into his hair, which had grown a bit since she'd met him and was now rather scruffy. Vechs' eyes weren't filled with that same joy that they had been three weeks ago. Instead they were hard and those of a man with a goal.

"Are you admiring my beard?" Vechs teased, making Erin regret mentioning she liked beards.

"You're whole face,"

"My whole face?"

"Yes," Erin nodded, "I am admiring your whole face. You look older than you did when I met you."

Vechs mocked offense, "Are you saying I look old? You're the one who's fifty!"

"Yeah, but I don't look fifty, I look like twenty-something."

Vechs nodded, "Yeah, the youth of casters," he said dramatically. Erin laughed and the two of them continued their silly conversation.

Erin was really starting to see Chad and Vechs as genuine, good friends. She supposed it was because of the situations they'd been through together. She remembered reading about stressful situations being good for bonding. Erin decided that this was clearly where she'd been going wrong all these years, she'd never put herself in stressful situations with potential friends.

She laughed at her own joke, earning herself a look from Vechs that she just waved off.

"We're here," Sevadus announced. He was stood in front of a tree. There wasn't another being in sight.

"Here being?" Erin asked.

"The entrance to Lynsereen, a brak city." Sevadus said, somewhat dramatically.

"It's a tree." Erin deadpanned.

"A magical tree, have you no imagination?"

"Apparently not," Vechs jested. Erin gave him a playful nudge with her elbow.

"Okay, how do we get into Lynsereen?" Erin asked, moving the conversation away from teasing her.

"Like so," Sevadus said and waved his hand over the tree. Blue light glowed in the shape of an arch and a door handle. Moments later there was a clear door shape with an ornate, brass door handle. Sevadus clasped the handle and pulled open the door.

"It's a hole." Vechs said dryly.

Sevadus rolled his eyes, "Yes, it's a hole. Just step down, I'll go last."

Both Chad and Vechs gestured for Erin to go first, "Cowards." Erin said before hopping into the hole. She fell for a few seconds before she felt the surface underneath her form into a slide. She slid down at top speed, and as the light grew brighter, she slowed down.

At the end of the slide Erin landed on a soft moss floor. She stood up and moved out the way for when the boys appeared. Erin then turned her attention to her surroundings. It was stunning.

There were tall, winding trees with houses built into them. As well as the tree houses there were tall pillars of stone, one of which Erin was currently stood on, which also had buildings on. There were fireflies of varying colours flitting around. The ceiling of the brak city was dark but glistened with twinkling lights there were like stars.

As well as the ‘stars’, there were lights strung in the trees, Erin wondered how they could even work. Magic, probably.

All the boys appeared shortly after Erin, Chad and Vechs' expressions were as stunned as Erin imagined she had looked moments before. Clearly neither of them had been to a Brak city before either.

Sevadus dusted himself off and grinned, "Stunning, huh?"

Erin just nodded, not really sure what to say. Sevadus clasped his hands together, "Right, to the Luran's!" He said and walked towards a lever. He gave it a tug and a rattling sound started. Erin looked over the edge to see a brass lift rattling its way up. There were no pulleys so it must have been operated by magic.

""The brak have a limited amount of magic," Sevadus explained as they all stepped into the lift, "but what they can do with it is truly brilliant."

Once they'd stepped out of the lift Sevadus lead them across the city. The group got looks from some people, while others waved to Sevadus brightly. It was obvious Sevadus wasn't new here.

After ten minutes they reached another lift which carried them aloft to the pillar where the Luran residence stood gazing out over the rest of the brak city.

Erin stepped forward and nervously knocked on the front door. This time they had the benefit of Sevadus being someone Meria and her family knew. As well as a friendly face being present, Guude had sent a message to Meria beforehand saying to expect an odd group of people in the next few days.

The door swung open and Erin was taken aback. Standing there in the doorway was none other than the brak woman Erin had met weeks ago in the market, "You're the brak from the market," Erin said before she could think to stop herself.

"You're the human from the market," the woman replied.

"Do you two know each other?" Vechs asked, confused.

"Technically, no," Erin said.

The woman shook her head, "Technically yes."

"What?" Erin blinked at her.

"Hang on, I'll get mum, wait there," and the woman walked off into the house.

"Skereth is being her charming self," Sevadus observed with a laugh, "she is actually genuinely charming, but on occasion acts odd and aloof. Lovely woman though."

A few minutes later Skereth returned with someone who Erin could only assume was Meria.

Meria smiled warmly, "You must be Erin, Guude said you were coming,"

Erin returned the smile and nodded, "That's me. May we can in? I wanted to talk to you."

The brak nodded, "Certainly, step right in," she stepped out of the way and gestured for the four of them to come in.

Skereth walked next to Erin as Meria lead them into the kitchen where a third brak woman was stirring something in a pan, "Erin is a very pretty name for such an equally pretty maiden." She said coolly.

Erin blinked, "Uhm, thank you?"

"You're welcome,"

Erin was left feeling slightly confused as she and the others sat down at the kitchen table. Skereth leaned against the kitchen counter and peered over into the pan to see what her mother was cooking.

"So, you are the daughter of Dorian and Liana Wicken?" Meria said in her soft voice. It was a voice Erin imagined a deer would have if they could talk.

"I am, I took their surname again so I now go by Erin Wicken,"

"Lovely name. You know, your face rings a bell. Not because you're the spitting image of your mother, though. No, I do believe I recognise you as you." Meria mused, "I wonder…Guude said you'd had some sort of memory spell cast on you. Maybe Dorian had it put on the rest of us…"

Erin considered it, "That is possible, although anything seems possible these days," she added with a chuckle. She noticed Skereth go to open her mouth but seem to think better of it, "Anyway, why would my dad want to remove me from the memories of everyone I knew?"

"For your safety," Erin glanced at Kerin who'd remained silence until then.

"How so?"

Kerin turned around, unlike her family she had a mess of blonde curls. Erin noted that Skereth had her nose. She was confused as to how Skereth could look like both her mothers but didn't dare ask, "Well," Kerin began, "I knew Greenwood, he was an arsehole of the highest degree," Kerin was far less soft spoken than her wife, something Skereth has clearly inherited, "maybe Dorian, your father, wanted to make it as if you never existed? You would be far safer if your existence was unknown."

"Yeah, shame though, she's pretty cute,"

Sevadus, who was now stood next to Skereth, whacked her arm and whispered something to her. Skereth grinned and said nothing else.

"Ignore my daughter," Meria said, "most charming young woman I know, yet she acts like a child,"

"A child would not compliment a woman on how beautiful she was, mum." Skereth said matter-of-factly.

"I will send you to your room,"

"My room is a study and I don't live here anymore. I moved out like forty years ago." Skereth said huffily, but shut up.

"Anyway, everyone you had contact with in Sunreth forgetting that you exist would certainly be safer for you if Greenwood had come back. I just wish I knew why your father did it, though." Meria sighed, "I'm sure he told me, but, of course, I don't remember."

Erin sighed, "All this magic is confusing as hell. Can you undo memory magic?"

"Yes, but it has to be undone by the caster or hexer who did the spell in the first place," Meria sighed, "and it was clearly a powerful one if it's lasted this long."

"So we're screwed?"

"Not if we can find the caster, we're not," Skereth said.

Erin turned to her, "That might be the first useful thing you've said this morning,"

"And you guys call me rude,"

Erin shrugged.

The group sat, or in some of their cases stood, discussing everything well into the day. They decided that the next course of action ought to be finding out who had cast the spell in the first place and locating them to make them undo it.

The Lurans were fascinating to speak with, Erin discovered. Their views were different in ways that benefitted the conversation and would prevent loops. They contributed wild but just about feasible suggestions, that Erin would never have thought of.

As they discussed Erin couldn't help but glance at Skereth every now and then. There was something about the woman that intrigued her, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Comments

[scara]

Well," Kerin began, "I knew Greenwood, he was an arsehole of the highest degree," Kerin was far less soft spoken than her wife, something Skereth has clearly inherited, "maybe Dorian, your father, wanted to make it as if you never existed? You would be far safer if your existence was unknown."
"Yeah, shame though, she's pretty cute,"
Sevadus, who was now stood next to Skereth, whacked her arm and whispered something to her. Skereth grinned and said nothing else.

One of my favourite moments of the series here.

"I will send you to your room,"
"My room is a study and I don't live here anymore. I moved out like forty years ago." Skereth said huffily, but shut up.

And another XD

Skereth is my new favourite character, she's awesome XD

[ruddiestbubbles]

Hmmm skereth is very intriguing. I feel she may play a very important role soon. *wanders off to ponder all inevitable theories*

[marsgemwrites]

*ponders with you, pretending to be clueless*

[(Anonymous)]

I love this chapter and all the people in it. (::) (::)
-Observing Anon

[marsgemwrites]

I'm glad you like them as much as I do :D