[WingcommanderIV]

The Aldonn Chronicles
Episode 10: Child's Play Part 2

Last Time: Aldonn woke up in a prison, without any memory of who he was, or where he came from. Meeting, and befriending a thief named Frank, they escaped, and joined with an ex-guard, Edward. Together they foiled a plot by Frank's old Thieves Guild, sending it's leader, Lee, into hiding. Now members of Webber Alumnus's Adventurers Guild, our heroes were just finishing their Christmas celebrations when they found a young, frozen girl, lying by the door. They took her in, but don't yet know who she is, or why she came to them.

The fireplace crackled, as it ate through the wood provided to it. It released a nice warm heat that permeated throughout the room, warming everyone inside. The one person in the room who needed it the most was a little girl. She sat in front of the fire, merely inches away from the flame, wrapped in warm blankets.

Her eyes were blue, cold, and empty as she stared into the violent flame longingly. Her blonde hair was flat and stringy, and her skin was abnormally pale. The thawing of frostbite throughout her body might have been causing her pain, but if it was, she didn't show it.

"She can't be more than 7 years old," whispered Edward to Aldonn. They were both standing in the back of the room, watching her quietly.

Frank came into the room, carrying a cup of hot cocoa. He handed it to her, and smiled, "Drink this. It's warm...make you feel ten times better. My own recipe."

She grabbed the mug from him without even looking at him, and held it firmly in both her hands.

Frank sighed, "If you feel like talking to us, perhaps telling us where your mommy and daddy are, just call for me...okay?

He got up, and joined Edward and Aldonn.

Edward looked to him, "Wow, Frank, I didn't know you could care like that."

"Well I do care. Orphan, remember? I know what it's like being alone for Christmas...and I don't want her to feel the way I felt."

Aldonn looked up from his thoughts, finally, "Wow...you wanna..."

Frank shook his head, "No, that's all in the past now. It happened, it sucked, but life moves on. This girls life will go on, and she'll have a proper Christmas..."

Edward nodded, "Christmas is already over."

"A proper New Year...with her family."

They heard the front door open, and Aldonn left the room to investigate who it was.

Webber got there first, to meet the psycho woman, as she was warming her hands at a nearby torch, and brushing snow from her hair.

"De storms pickin' oop...I barely made eh back 'ere afore da winds kicked in."

Aldonn joined them, "Did you find anyone?"

"Nay. Ye'd think if some person 'ad lost der kiddie, they'd go lookin fer 'er...no?"

Webber nodded, "We have to start planning for the worst. Her parents could have abandoned her here..."

Aldonn crossed his arms slowly, "What would that mean?"

Frank came in, having listened in on their conversation, "We raise her as one of our own. Guild baby. Only a guild isn't the type of place to raise babies, and it's not going to happen to her. She has a family...she has to. And we'll find them."

Webber waved the psycho girl away, "I'm not going to send anyone back into that storm. Thanks for your help, Emma."

Emma nodded, "I jus' wish der 'as anoder way I coold 'elp. Poor li'l bugger." She sighed helplessly, then headed for the stairs up to her room.

Frank stared hard at Webber, who could only shrug, "If I hear anything, you'll be the first to know."

Turning away, Frank pulled out a dagger from his belt, and threw it angrily at the wall in the reception room.

The dagger hit the wall with a loud thud, not too far from where the little girl was sitting. Seeing the dagger, the girl cried out in fear and emotional pain, and scrambled back as far as she could until she hit a wall.

Frank moved towards her confused, but she only pressed herself closer to the wall. Aldonn pushed Frank away, and bent down beside her.

"You've seen a dagger like that before?" asked Aldonn.

The little girl nodded.

Aldonn looked up at Frank. Frank grabbed his dagger from the wall and looked it over, "It's standard issue for the Thieves Guild...but we rounded them all up...except of course for..."

"...Lee" finished Aldonn. He fingered the scar where he was stabbed. It had mostly healed up on the outside, though it still hurt, as it likely wasn't fully healed inside. Aldonn remembered the sting of the blade, and the cruelty in Lee's face, "did he hurt you?"

The girl nodded, and spoke for the first time, "An he put mommy to sleep...and daddy, and Bobby."

Aldonn and Frank exchanged looks. Frank shook his head, "This can't be right. Lee is a jerk...but he isn't a cold-blooded killer. He'd only kill for a reason."

"He's changed. He's not the same man who raised you," refuted Aldonn. Turning back to the girl, he looked her in the eye, "Can you take me to your mommy?"

Nodding, she got up and started for the door.

Frank stepped into Aldonn's way, "Are you crazy? There's a storm going on out there."

"And when it ends...who knows what Lee will do next."

Aldonn pushed Frank aside and grabbed a torch from the wall. Following the girl into the front hall he opened the door. The winter blizzard blew in through the frame, causing Aldonn to cringe. By the stairs, Emma had come back down, and was heavily making out with the same guy she kissed at the dinner table.

Frank grabbed a heavy winter coat from a coat rack, and quickly draped it on the girl's shoulders before she could get through the door. He grabbed another warm coat and threw it at Aldonn, who ignored it completely, preferring to continue on in the plain cloth shirt and pants he was already wearing. He still had his sword strapped to his back, and held the torch firm in his hands. It flared up when the wind hit it, feeding on the air.

Frank grabbed his black leather jacket and quickly fastened it on. It was a tight fit, but had plenty of pockets and holsters filled with knives. It went well with the rest of his rogue apparel.

He was making for the door, when Emma managed to pull away from her new toy, "What's goin on?"

Frank paused, "The girl is taking us to her parents. You comin?"

Emma looked to the guy she was with, then out the door at the storm, then back again, "Sorry, Mate. Du'y calls."

With that, Frank ran out after Aldonn, while Emma quickly grabbed a fur coat for herself, and followed. The guy she was with reached out towards her, then dropped his arm, "My name is David..." he said silently to himself. Sighing, he left for his room.

* * *

The blizzard continued to rage uncontrollably. Aldonn and Holly pushed through, until finally they were in view of her house.

Seeing her mom lying cold in the doorway, Aldonn ran forward, and bent down to check if she was okay. There was too much blood for her still to be alive.

Angrily, Aldonn stood up, "Lee...I know you're in there."

Inside, everything was cold, dark and quiet. Aldonn could see the kitchen table, and behind it were a set of stairs that led to the upper floor. There were curtains hanging from the railing, drooping all the way down to the floor.

Frank came in behind Aldonn. Seeing the dead body, he grabbed Holly away, and passed her to Emma. He then came in behind Aldonn, "Aldonn...what are you doing?"

Without responding, Aldonn put his torch up to the open door frame, and let it catch fire.

The wind blew hard, and the fire quickly spread along the frame, and grew, until it covered the way in. Aldonn threw the rest of the torch into the dinner table, then turned back to Frank. They were on either sides of the fire.

"I'm going to kill Lee."

Frank tried to reach for Aldonn, but the flames forced him back, "What if he kills you first?"

Aldonn bowed his head, "He won't...he can't. I'm not going to let him kill anyone else ever again."

The fire on the table popped, as one of its legs gave way and it collapsed into the wall. The cabinet on the wall burst into flames. The fires by the door spread along the walls, and the entire house was now filled with bright orange light.

A voice behind Aldonn startled him, and made him turn, "Neither of us is leaving here alive...you idiot."

Lee stood in the living room, with two daggers drawn. He looked dirty, and tired. His legs were bent, and his eyes were set strongly on Aldonn.

"You ruined a girl's Christmas. You destroyed her family...and for what?"

"I'm amazed the girl is still alive. I meant to kill her...but I suppose I'll have to do you instead."

Lee jumped at Aldonn, spinning with his daggers assaulting Aldonn from all angles. Quickly drawing his sword, Aldonn blocked each swing and jab, but couldn't push past to make an attack. Barely holding himself together, Aldonn started backing up, as Lee pushed his advance hard. Aldonn backed up too far, and bumped into the wall behind him. The fire almost caught hold of his shirt, but he managed to step away, which only opened himself up to another attack.

Lee swung in with his left. Aldonn knocked it aside, and quickly knocked Lee's right dagger aside too, then pushing his handle at Lee's face. Lee ducked, and kneed Aldonn where Lee had stabbed him earlier. Aldonn screamed, and tried to roll with the hit. He landed on the ground hard, and forced himself to make for the stairs.

The fire had spread, encompassing all the walls, and made its way up the curtains on the wall, to the second floor. The fire traveled from the curtains to the railing, and along, making the stairs unstable.

Avoiding a patch of hardwood that was thick in flames, Aldonn grabbed the bottom stair and made his way up. Lee followed close behind. Pressing the attack, Lee came at Aldonn without remorse. Aldonn brought his sword up, despite the terrible pain in his side, and blocked one of Lee's attacks, only to get slashed in the chest.

There was a crash, and a large fiery beam fell from the ceiling. Aldonn dived back, onto the second story, and gasped for breath. Lee jumped over the debris, but this time instead of blocking, Aldonn swung at Lee's legs. He made a large gash in one, and Lee fell head over heels.

* * *

The storm slowed, as the fire raged. Frank could only watch helplessly as the fire spread up the walls and along the roof. The entire house was almost completely engulfed.

Behind him, Edward came running in, "Frank?"

Frank turned, "Ed...where the hell you been?"

"Checking on some leads...you?"

"Chasin after a couple a kids."

"Where are they now?" asked Edward.

Frank looked back towards the fire, "Aldonn's in there fighting Lee. I sent the girl back to HQ with Emma."

"Her name's Holly," corrected Edward.

"How do you know that."

"She was wearing a locket...I borrowed it from her and looked her up in the city records. Lee...did he kill her parents?"

Frank nodded, "So it would seem."

Edward put his hands on his hips, "Funny, I'd have thought you'd be the one fighting him."

Frank looked back at Edward, insulted, "I was thinking about it. Things just got a little too hot for my tastes."

Edward finally took notice of the fire, "Who started it?"

"Well you know how some people burn incense when they're stressed? Turns out Aldonn burns houses."

There was a loud crack, and a part of the roof caved in, resulting in a splash of flame and debris.

Edward watches it with awe, "Should we be worried?"

"I am...you've been too busy following leads."

* * *

Lee struggled to try and get back on his feet, but his leg was too weak. Sweat dripping from his brow, and smoke filling in his lungs, Lee dropped his daggers and grabbed his leg helplessly.

Aldonn picked up his sword and brought it down on Lee, until it rested mere centimeters away, "Pick up your daggers. Pick them up!"

Lee looked up, "Why? Would it help," he coughed, "Make it easier to kill me if I'm armed? Self defense? Would that suit your conscience?"

Lee pulled a dagger from his belt and threw it at Aldonn, "Not so easy, is it? Killing."

Aldonn knocked the blade away with his sword. Suddenly the roof blew, and fell in on itself. Large fragments hit the side of the stairs, destroying a large chunk of the second story. The rest of the floor began to crumble, and both Lee and Aldonn fell in and down onto the ground floor. Aldonn fell in a patch of fire, and quickly rolled out, but not fast enough to avoid getting a severe burn on his arm.

Ignoring the pain, He grabbed Lee by the neck and threw him into the only patch of wall not in flames. Pressed tight, Lee watched as the flames enclosed towards him.

"You've learned a lot...since last we met...Are you truly going to kill me?"

Aldonn looked hard into Lee's eyes, and thought long and hard about stabbing him in the heart, and ending his life forever. Instead, Aldonn finally let go, and Lee fell to his knees.

Aldonn backed away, and sheathed his sword, "I'm not going to kill you. I can't. You killed these people...and you'll pay the consequences...but I won't...can't kill you...or else I'd be nothing more than a hypocrite."

"Then...you're letting me go?"

Aldonn nodded, "Life is your punishment...but it is also your one and only rule. If you kill again, or if I ever see you again, I won't stop Frank from killing you. Leave...and don't come back."

With that Aldonn turned his back on Lee, and left. Lee tried to crawl towards another opening, when a part of the wall collapsed, and fell on Lee's injured leg. Lee screamed and reached out for something, anything...there was nothing.

"Dammit," cursed Lee in realization. For a minute, he thought he'd survive the night. Closing his eyes, Lee waited for the ugly and painful end, finally accepting his destiny.

* * *

It was 6 days later, and the blizzard had let up. The air was brisk and cold as everyone met together on the roof of the headquarters to celebrate the new year.

There was still snow on the ground, and Frank managed to get a snowfight going with Edward, David, and Emma. Derek stood by the stairs, with his back against the door, staring loosely at Aldonn.

Aldonn didn't notice his stares, for he was himself starring out into the city. He saw people smiling, laughing, illuminated by the silvery moonlight. Kids running through the crowds of people, playing tag.

One guy dropped his money pouch from his belt, and the person beside him picked it up, and handed it back to him.

Lovers littered the crowd, feeling the warmth of each other's embrace.

One father grabbed his kid as she was running past, and propped her on his shoulders, so that she could have a better view of the Mage tower.

As everyone watched, fireworks, and fireballs flew from the tower and exploded in the sky. The sky lit up with all different colors as explosion after explosion rang out. The words "Happy New Year" formed from the fires.

Frank scrambled to his feet, after falling from being hit by a snowball, and cheered. Emma ran, and tackled Frank to the ground, kissing him all over. David, clearly over her, instead turned to the fireworks, and clapped happily. Even Derek seemed to smile, slightly.

Edward laughed at Frank, and made his way to Aldonn. His face grew more serious when he realized that Aldonn wasn't smiling, "What happened in that house, Aldonn?"

Aldonn didn't respond at first, then finally looked to him, "If you're asking if I killed him or not...I didn't."

"Why not?"

"When I look down at that crowd I can't help but think about all the evil that is in this world...I mean...how could anyone murder a family like he did?"

"There is evil. But when I look at that crowd...I don't see it...I see something different...better."

"What do you see?"

Edward watched for a second, "Love. Pure love. The love between people of all types. Male, female, short, tall, young, old, black and white. Some evil is strong, but no evil can take away what we have. Nothing can stop love. Not now, not ever."

Aldonn nodded, "We won't let it...that's why I didn't kill him."

Edward looked back to Aldonn, curiously.

Aldonn continued, "If I'd killed him...what would have made me a better person than he was. Death is the tool of the enemy. We fight to protect life. To protect love. Him, of all people, made me realize how important life was. If I could learn that...then so could he. I didn't kill him because he still had a life to live."

Without saying more, Aldonn looked over to Holly, who was drawing in a corner. Edward watched his gaze and put his hand on Aldonn's shoulder, "She'll be fine...she's too young to truly understand what happened. We'll raise her ourselves...the three of us. We'll be the best goddamn parents ever.

Aldonn nodded, "Yeah we will."

Holly finished her drawing, and looked it over. It was a picture of a purple figure with knives for hands. Holly angrily grabbed a red pastel and scratched at the picture with it until it was completely covered. Putting down the pastel, she got up, and joined the festivities.

Frank managed to squeeze away from Emma, and joined Aldonn and Edward, "Well this is it."

Aldonn smiled for the first time since Christmas, "I guess it is. Tomorrow we get our first assignment...and everything changes."

Frank grabbed them both in a deep embrace, and the three of them watched the fireworks, "Happy New Year, Guys."

"Happy New Year, Frank"

"Happy New Year"

* * *

Fireworks erupted with a bang, and Lee opened his eyes. He was bathed in darkness, with black all around. He felt himself over, his leg was healed, but his clothes were all ripped, torn, and burned. He tried to talk, but his tongue got caught up in his throat, causing him to cough.

A voice boomed out from nowhere and everywhere at the same time, "Ah, so you're awake. We've been tracking your progress for some time, and we've come to an agreement that you will suit our needs fine.

Lee gulped, and forced his throat into a hoarse whisper, "Who are you?"

"That is none of your concern," A light came on 5 meters from him, and Lee found food lying on the ground. It was a whole chicken, a loaf of bread, and a bowl of soup, "Eat."

Lee didn't move, "Am I a prisoner?" he asked shakenly.

There was a long pause, until finally the cold booming voice spoke one bone chilling word, "Yes."

Next Time: Aldonn, Frank, and Edward get their first mission. What will it be, how long will they be gone? Who will be going with them? Find out next time.

[Uga Stormchan]

Just a few mistakes I came across.

the tab;e popped, as one of it's ;egs gave way (; instead of l)
Lee came out Aldonn without remorse. (Lee came out Aldonn?)
bt his leg was too weak. (but)
Even Derek in seemed to smile, slightly. (Derek in seemed to smile?)

After reading this, I'd say your a speed typer. How many words/min can you do? I can't type too fast myself. I find it too impresise. Slow and steady wins race you know. lol

[WingcommanderIV]

well, I'm really lazy. I come up with all these ideas in my head...and they're great, but then I have a hard time forcing them onto paper. Sometimes they just pour out of me, and then I have to speed type to keep up with my thought process, or else I'll lose my groove, and be stuck in writer's block. Other times I'll have to just kinda force myself to write, but then I find that my writing gets kinda...boring. It helps if I put on music, If I play music that puts me in the same mood as my character, sometimes I get some great dialogue and stuff out of that. The whole new years scene at the end of this episode I wrote while listening to Iris by the Goo goo dolls on a loop.

So yeah I speed type...but are you saying that as in it's detrimental to the story? or just thew grammar. Yeah, I wish I could type without errors, but hey, that's what you guys are for :p. And thanks for the corrections...I make all the changes to my master copy, so when I release the story arc in a zip on my site, it's the most edited and complete versions possible.

And what about the story...how does it compare to the first story arc???

[Uga Stormchan]

It's just through the grammar that I figured it. They're common mistakes made when someone types fast.

Haha... Forgot to mention that part. lol So far so good though. Now that Lee appers to be dead, I'm wondering who/what they will have to come up against next and what new places they will see. Doing a great job with this and this arc has a great start which I'm confident you'll keep improving as the tale unfolds.

[Lubesh]

Yep i echo that. That was thoroughly entertaining if not not gripping stuff and as I say ur writing is becomig very eloquent aside from the content....congrats!

[WingcommanderIV]

"ur writing is becomig very eloquent aside from the content."

Uh...what does that mean?

"doing a great job with this and this arc has a great start which I'm confident you'll keep improving as the tale unfolds."

What does that mean???

In any case thx for the editing and um...comments.

[Lubesh]

Your writing has more style and emotion as in the opening with the fire etc not to mention the descriptive in the fights. The content your acual story and characers r getting better as u write.

[Uga Stormchan]

Your doing a great job with the continuing tale and this stroy arc your doing now is off to a great start. But I beleive that there is always room to improve as you seem to do as this story goes on.

lol Not to good at making my thoughts coharent from time to time. lol

[WingcommanderIV]

That's cool. Thanks for all the words. and confidence. And all that.

I really do enjoy this story. It has everything I like in fantasy (and none of the things I hate in fantasy). I won't comment on grammar and structure and crap like that because I'll just be repeating myself from previous chapters, and you know I don't have many problems with it anyway

All I will say is keep this up, you've got something good going on, and I like your writing style as it continues to develop and improve.

[WingcommanderIV]

Lol, awesome. I was wondering if you were still with us, Duncan. I like you're liking it, and I agree with you completely. When I came up with this series, my intention was to make a fantasy series that I'd wanna read (or watch).

I wasn't for a few weeks but I should be around more now though

[WingcommanderIV]

Awesome. The next episode will be released sometime between now and Monday (It's not done yet...so it won't be released now...but I'm working on it...after I finish work that is.

[WingcommanderIV]

It's been edited and updated. Enjoy everybody.

Oh, and there's a new ending.

[wave1345]

Even jumping into this story in the middle, I'm impressed by the story you're weaving. It has a nice feel to it, and I love the phrase "guild baby": it has a curious weight to it, and adds a lot of authenticity to the world, if that makes sense to you.

You wrote: "Her eyes were blue, cold, and empty as she stared into the violent flame longingly."
Suggestion: It's a personal preference, but I prefer not to end on adverbs. I would write "... she stared longingly into the violent flame".

You wrote: "The dagger hit the wall with a loud thud, not too far from where the little girl was sitting."
Suggestion: You established the dagger as the subject at the end of the last paragraph, so I might leave it as "It hit the wall with a loud thud...", especially since you use the word "dagger" again in the next sentence.

You wrote: "Aldonn looked up at Frank. Frank grabbed his dagger from the wall and looked it over".
Suggestion: To avoid repeating the name, I might say "Aldonn looked up at Frank, who grabbed his dagger from the wall and looked it over."

You wrote: -My name is David..." he said silently to himself."
Suggestion: "said silently to himself" sounds awkward to my ear. I might have him say it quietly, or simply "said to himself".

You wrote: "He tried to talk, but his tongue got caught up in his throat, causing him to cough."
Suggestion: "Causing him to cough" sounds really clinical to me. I might use "making him cough". Personal style thing, though.

You wrote: "Lee didn't move, "Am I a prisoner?" he asked shakenly."
Suggestion: "shakenly" is kind of an unusual word. I might simply say "he asked, shaken", or "clearly shaken".

[WingcommanderIV]

Thanks, I'm glad this was an enjoyable read, even though you haven't read the others. That's some good advice, and I'll def make some changes!!! I hope you keep reading!