Life and Lies

Life and Lies
Kami-nari Yari

Prologue

         The fire in the grate flickered erratically as the door to the little tavern opened and closed once again. The inn keeper looked up from his work, and scowled deeply.
         Not him again, he thought tiredly as a young man with a heavy walking stick passed over the threshold.
         The man was tall and well-muscled with narrow hips and broad shoulders. He had a pleasing face with almond shaped green-brown eyes and full lips. His hair was dirty blond, more flaxen colored than anything else, and it stuck up in odd locks around his head with two strands of it falling along the left side of his face and ending at his narrow cheekbones.
         He walked under the door frame marking the edge of the entrance hall, shaking his head free of the snow that had been falling since early dawn. The young man glanced around, sending a warning glare to all those who had turned to look at him. Those who had been doing just that immediately turned away and faced again their drinks.
         The newcomer nodded, and walked slowly to an empty table in the corner of the taproom. He sat and placed his heavy walking stick against the wall behind him, within easy reach.
         The inn keeper grabbed a serving girl that was re-entering the back room by the arm, “Go take his order.” he ordered her gruffly, motioning with his head towards the newcomer.
         The serving girl looked to where he had motioned. Her eyes widened and she turned sharply to glare at him.
         “What? Why do I have to do it, Cormon? I'm new, can't you send someone else?” she demanded in a hushed whisper.
         Cormon shook his head, “Because, Cybil, you're the closest to him. Now, go; the sooner you see to him, the faster he'll leave.” he hissed back, giving her a stern look.
         Cybil sighed angrily, and then nodded. She steeled herself, and then wound her way through the tables to the back corner.
         All the while she was silently praying that when this particular customer finally snapped, that it would not be today. He was a regular at the tavern, in every day at around seven o'clock in the evening. He had never caused a ruckus before, but he was always expected to. That's the way it was with Terrans: they did one thing wrong and suddenly they were a ticking time bomb.
         She reached his table. The young man was sitting with his hand propped up under his chin, staring out the window. Cybil cleared her throat quietly. The man ignored her, or did not hear. She did it again, a little louder this time.
         He looked up and smiled kindly. Cybil noticed that his eyes, which were angled down slightly, crinkled at the corners when he did so.
         Cybil looked at her feet, shuffling them nervously, “Um, ma...may I...uuh,” she looked up at the ceiling, and took a deep breath. “Can I get you something, sir?” she asked, closing her eyes in preparation for the explosion of anger.
         “Yes, can I have a mug of the cherry cider?” he asked pleasantly,
         Cybil's eyes shot open and she stared at the young man. He was still smiling at her, yet to her it seemed like his eyes were just a little sad. She smiled back, but hesitantly,
         “Yes, of course you can. We just got the shipment of cherries last week and the batch of cider has just finished brewing. Is there anything else?” she asked him,
         The young man shook his head, “No, I think not today.” he said.
         Cybil turned to go, but was stopped in her tracks by the next thing that the young man said,
         “Thank you,”
         Cybil paused and almost turned her head to look at him, but instead hurried to the back room. The door swung shut behind her, and as soon as it did she was immediately surrounded by the other serving girls. Cybil held up her round wooden tray as if it were a shield against the barrage of questions being flung at her.
         “Did he threaten you?” demanded one,
         “Were you scared?” inquired another,
         “What did he order?” asked one of the cooks in the back of the room.
         “Oh, uh Cherry Cider!” Cybil shouted above the clamor.
         “Did he try to grab you?”
         “What did he say?”
         “Isn't he cute?”
         That last question put a stop to all the others. It had been asked by none other than Miranda Lockart, the airhead of the group. She looked around innocently, wondering why they had all stopped talking.
         “What?” she inquired vacantly, peering happily at the other girls.
         There was a collective groan and they turned away from her.
         “Okay everyone, back to work!” shouted Marguerite, the inn keeper's wife. She was a large woman, but not fat. Standing at a staggering 192 centimeters she towered over nearly everyone else belonging to the inn's staff. She was, to say the least, a very intimidating woman. She had her gray brown hair pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head and her stern gray eyes scanned the group for those looking to disobey her. No one did. The serving girls scattered and returned to their various duties. Marguerite walked over to Cybil and put her hand on the young girl's shoulder.
         “You pay no attention to those girls, Cybil. Do your duty and you'll be alright.”
         “Thanks, Marguerite, I appreciate it.” Cybil smiled, craning her neck back so she could look Marguerite in the face.
         Marguerite smiled, and patted her on the back, the force of which was enough to stagger Cybil forward a few steps, “Yes, now get to work or I just might have to send you out to clean the heads.” she warned.
          The heads were nothing more than a wooden bench with holes cut into it that sat above a little stream that lead to a pond half a league or so from the town. Cleaning the heads meant scrubbing the tops, rims, and removing any clogs that happened to come up in the stream. Safe to say, there wasn't much of anything living in the pond.
         Cybil gulped and hurried over to where the cherry cider was bubbling in a pot over the fire.
         She ladled some into a large mug and set it on the tray. Then hurried back out the door. Marguerite silently left the room, and as soon as she did the others girls crowded up against the tiny window looking into the taproom to watch. There was much shoving and harsh whispering, but as soon as Cybil came near to the corner table everything went silent once more.
         Cybil arrived back at the corner table, where the young man was once again staring out the window with his chin in his palm.
         She calmly walked up to him and set the large mug down on the table,
         “Sorry it took so long, sir, it was hectic in the back room.”
         “Acastus,” the young man replied.
         Cybil was taken aback, “Excuse me?” she said in a quiet tone, so as not to irritate him.
         The young man looked at her, sad green eyes sparkling in the late afternoon light.
         “Acastus. That's my name, I just thought it'd be better than 'sir'. That's a title that I really don't think I deserve.” he said seriously, frowning slightly.
         Cybil gasped, “Oh, yes! I'm so sorry for the mistake! I meant no offense, I just...”
         “It's alright,” Acastus said with a small smile, interrupting her. “You weren't to know how to address a stranger, the fault is mine.”
         Cybil was speechless; she stared at Acastus with wonder in her eyes. This young man before her was the complete opposite of what all the other serving girls had said about him. They had told her that he was a Terran, and therefore he was prone to violent and lustful mannerisms, not to be trusted. That was what they said, anyway; yet this young man before her was kind, gentle, sweet and, Cybil was surprised to admit, more decent than eighty percent of the men in this small town nestled in the Tyrian mountains.
         Cybil smiled back at Acastus, “If it was your fault, then I forgive you, Acastus.” she turned to leave once again, but stopped, and looked back, “You know, you're not like a Terran at all.”
         Acastus chuckled, “And how many Terrans have you known?”
         Cybil peered at him thoughtfully, “None,”



Chapter One

         Acastus sipped his cider slowly as he pondered what had just happened. In all his years, he had always striven to be courteous and agreeable in everything he did and to everyone he met. But despite this he had never received a warm welcome from anyone, at least not after they found out that he was a Terran. This girl Cybil, she was the first person who Acastus had ever met that didn't shy away in fear or send him threatening glances when he spoke to her. That puzzled Acastus, and he wondered if there was perhaps hope for the people of this world.
         He cast a glance towards the place where Cybil was working. She wasn't the most stunning girl to look at, but she had her own kind of beauty about her. It lay there hidden beneath the surface in the way she walked and smiled at people. Cybil was a small girl with delicate hands. She had mousy brown hair and eyes that were like amber. She had a soft face that looked as if it still had a bit of childhood chubbiness to it. Acastus smiled to himself, for a moment entertaining the idea that they might become friends. He shook off the idea though, it could never come to pass.
         Cybil disappeared back into the back room, and Acastus turned back to his drink.

         As soon as Cybil stepped through the doorway to the back room she was once again assaulted with questions. Cybil backed up into the wall, and closed her eyes against all the barrage of words.
         “Enough!” a voice snapped from behind the gaggle of girls.
         Cybil opened her eyes and saw her savior standing arms with akimbo and a broom in one hand.
         “Dmitri!” Cybil squeaked, standing on her toes to make herself seen above the taller girls.
         Dmitri was the inn keeper's adopted son. He was only about three years Cybil's senior and he was easily the kindest boy in the village. Cybil's heart beat faster every time she saw him. He was handsome too, with dark brown hair and even darker eyes. He had rough hands and, unlike Acastus, a strong, square jaw.
         Eight pairs of eyes turned to look at him, and eight mouths went silent. A little path cleared through the gaggle of girls, and Dmitri stepped through it. He took Cybil's wrist and led her away from the group.
         Once they were out of earshot of the other girls Dmitri turned to her and asked,
         “What was that about?”
         Cybil sighed, “Nothing.”
         Dmitri's eyebrows shot up, “Nothing? Any fool can see that that wasn't about nothing; now, tell me.”
         Cybil looked at him, not sure if she should tell him. But the way he was looking at her made her feel such comfort that she couldn't disobey.
         “It was about Acas...I mean, the Terran. I had to serve the Terran and the other girls wanted to know about it.”
         Cybil was surprised to see rage flare in Dmitri's eyes. He seized her shoulders. “What did he say? Did he hurt you?” he demanded, shaking her a little.
         “Well, no, but...” she said.
         “Then he must have said something to you...what? Any threats? Insults?”
         “No!” she cried, cutting off Dmitri's flow of questions.
         He released her shoulders, and looked at her, obviously, not believing a word of it.
         “Honestly,” Cybil continued, “He doesn't seem all that bad to me. In fact, he seems more decent than...”
         “Decent? You've got to be joking, Cybil. How can you say that that thing could be anything even resembling decent?”
         Cybil was taken aback, and she immediately went on the defensive.
         “How can you be so critical of a person you don't even know?” she demanded.
         “He's not human, Cybil, none of them are. To compare a Terran and a normal person even on the same scale is an insult to mankind.”
         “But why? What has he done to earn such hatred from all of you?” she asked quietly, folding her arms across her chest.
         Dmitri's voice softened. “You really don't know, do you?”
         Cybil looked at him, eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Know what?”
         “Come with me,” he said, taking her arm again and leading her to the small room at the back of the kitchen.
         It was sparsely decorated with only one oak table with seven chairs around it. He pulled one of them out for Cybil, and she sat down in it hesitantly. Dmitri took the one across from her, and settled back into it.
         “Do you know what an Elyne is, Cybil?” Dmitri began.
         Cybil nodded.
         “Explain to me what you know.”
         “Elynes are a race of people that look like humans, but aren't.” she said, and Dmitri motioned for her to elaborate. “They live in secluded places, like the Daborian Mountains and the Verisian Forests. They aren't like us. They can do fantastical things. Like control fire and...and levitate. And they can run incredibly long distances without slowing. They have amazing strength: they do, I've seen them perform at festivals in some of the cities farther away from the mountains.
         Some people say that they can do magic too, which is why they walk around with wild animals at their sides. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's what people say, anyway.”
         Dmitri nodded, and looked at her seriously, like a teacher lecturing a student.
         “And what about their behavior? How do they act?”
         Cybil had to think about that one. Having grown up for the first eleven years of her life in a larger city north of the Tyrian mountains, she had grown up around the Elynes that traded and performed in the markets. The only problem was that she had never paid much attention to how they acted; such observations were beyond a child of eleven.
         “Well, from what I remember, they're really quiet. I've never heard one say more than two dozen words at any one given time. They keep to themselves, but they watch everything. I don't think there's a thing going on in the market places that they don't see and know about.” Cybil paused,
         “I don't think they like humans much either.”
         “Exactly,” Dmitri said.
         “Huh?”
         “Elynes and humans are at odds with each other, we always have been. We hate each other. Elynes don't like us because we're loud, obnoxious, rude, crude, and savage. We don't like them because they're quiet, calm, creepy in more than one way, pretty much flawless in their appearance, and, more than anything, we don't trust them.
         We've had dozens of wars with them in history. A war with the Elynes was what sent us into the downward spiral into the hell that we're in.
         We lost everything in that war. All the technology we had gained, all the resources, all the history. And worst of all we lost our world...literally. They weren't from earth originally, they were from some other universe that we can't see, and then the bridge between the two worlds was shattered and the two worlds merged. They brought with them all the beasties that they had over there and lo and behold, as soon as they did...” he clapped his hands together, “Total world devastation!” he proclaimed, standing up. He looked to Cybil as if he had just discovered a cure for the common cold.
         “What does this have to do with Terrans?” Cybil asked, eager to get to the heart of the matter.
         Dmitri sat back down, and folded his arms across his chest.
         “What is a Terran?” he asked her.
         Cybil was at a loss for words, she honestly had no idea. So, she just shrugged her shoulders.
         Dmitri smiled. “Terrans are the unholy spawn of a human and an Elyne.”
         Cybil's eyes widened. If Acastus was half Elyne, then that certainly explained his ethereal beauty, but that didn't answer the question that had been burning in her mind ever since Dmitri had brought her to the back room.
         “So, what does any of this have to do with Acastus?” she demanded, forgetting that she was not supposed to say his name...forgetting, or not caring.
         Dmitri smiled coldly, “Glad you asked. Since Elynes and humans were pretty much born to destroy each other, you might draw the conclusion that Terrans are, shall we say, unstable?” he said, tapping the side of his head with a knowing look.
         Cybil glared at him, “And?”
         “And they're unstable. That's what defines Terrans. They can live perfectly normal lives and then one day they just snap. Only for a single instant, mind you, but in that instant they destroy any place society might have had for them. After that instant, they return to normal. They have no recollection of the event, but people remember. They are forever branded as a menace to society and avoided like the plague.”
         “So, you just automatically treat all Terrans like this, even if they haven’t done anything?”
         “Nope, you see, we don’t know they're Terran until this happens. They look and act completely normal, but when they snap, they change. They turn into monsters that destroy everything in their path, and most of the time they change physically. Nothing much, a different hair color, different eyes, claws, a tail, animal ears, that sort of thing. Then we know they're Terrans.”
         Cybil was silent for a long time. She just stared at the table, suddenly finding great interest in the pinkish brown wood grain. Finally, she took a deep breath and voiced the question that she did not want to hear the answer to.
         “What happened to Acastus?” she whispered in a voice that was barely audible.
         Dmitri smiled; it wasn't a very nice smile, either. “Eleven years ago, when Acastus was nine, he snapped.”
         Cybil raised her eyebrows, that young? She thought, and then hmmm, so he's only a year or two older than me...
         Dmitri continued, not waiting for Cybil to ask what happened.
         “Acastus lived with his mother. Her name was Eilonwy. She came to this village pregnant and without a husband. My father let her live and work here at the inn until she got enough money to purchase a small home. She did just that after about seven months, but she stayed on to work. My mother helped deliver the baby a month after Eilonwy purchased a home. Mother said that it was the most terrible thing that she had ever seen. Eilonwy went through more pain than any normal mother should in bringing a baby into the world, and when the babe was finally born, he didn't cry. Not a peep. Usually that means that there's stuff in the baby's lungs, but he breathed alright, and was in all other ways a healthy boy. Eilonwy named him Acastus, 'for his father' she said.
         Acastus grew up with me. Every day Eilonwy would bring him to the inn, and my mother would try to make me play with him. I was two years older, so I didn't want to associate with him in the first place, but I also didn't want to because he gave me the willies. He was always really quiet, and he never really did anything, he just sat out in the yard and stared at things. Sometimes he would climb up into the maple tree for hours on end and not come down till his mother called him.
         When he got older, he would wander away for days at a time and then would come back without a word to anyone about where he'd been. Eilonwy never said a word, she just let him go and then acted as if everything was normal from then on. He would be gone for days, Cybil, days. And he was younger than ten years old! What kind of child would he have to be for his mother to let him wander off alone and not make any fuss about it? Occasionally, he even brought back a marten or an otter with him. The animals just followed him home without any encouragement at all. One time he even brought home this big weasel thing with wings. Wings! I didn't even know creatures like that existed, yet here came Acastus waltzing into the inn with a flying weasel that was longer than he was!
         Anyway, the snows had just melted off the pass and the traders were coming through. Market day. Every year it brings hundreds of people from all over Annaris to our town as they make their way to the rest of Daan. That particular year, however, there were some traders that had come all the way from Oceanus. Big ugly brutes they were, with long matted hair and piercings all over their faces. They had dark skin and even darker eyes. They were rude too, and they loved their liquor. They stayed at our inn, and one morning they had a mug too many and started to get a little wild. Eilonwy was the only one working the inn, the rest were at Market selling mead and ale to the traders.
         Well, Eilonwy was very beautiful. Her hair was long and black, and her eyes shone like sapphires. She was pale as the moon and had the most beautiful face you could ever imagine. The Oceans couldn't resist that, intoxicated as they were. I don't know exactly what happened, but I do know that they had their way with her.
         Mother had asked me to go with Acastus on one of his little 'adventures' outside of town. We had been traipsing around the high-lands for three bloody days and I was looking forward to a warm mattress and a lovely feather pillow. The Oceans were gone by the time we got there, but Eilonwy was still there. She smiled at us when we walked in and served up some pear cider and a meal cake for each of us. She gave us the cider in the normal big wooden mugs, and then went to get the meal cakes out of the oven.
         I could tell that something was bothering Acastus: he kept looking around the room with narrowed eyes. He kept sniffing as well, as if the air was foul in some way. When Eilonwy came back he had his answer.
         When, she was putting the wooden tray with the cakes on the table he seized on of her arms and pulled up the sleeve of her dress. Her forearm was covered in dark brown bruises, and there was a coarse brown hair stuck to the sleeve of her dress. By the look on Acastus' face I reckon that he knew exactly what had happened.
         Something changed in him then. He let go of his mother's arm, and she stumbled back, frightened it seemed. Acastus clenched his left hand into a fist and his fingers wrapped tightly around the mug in the other hand. He bent his head down, teeth gritted and eyes closed tight. The mug in his hand shattered, and blood began dripping from his closed fist where his fingernails had cut into the flesh of his palm.
         Eilonwy came forward to help him, but when he looked up at her, it wasn't Acastus anymore...at least, not the Acastus that she knew.
         His hair darkened and his eyes that were once such a lovely green color were now red as the blood that dripped onto the floor. Those eyes,” Dmitri paused, and got very quiet as he stared at his lap, “Those eyes still give me nightmares....they were nothing...nothing but pure malice and hatred. Hatred for those who had done such a terrible thing to his mother.
         'Acastus,' Eilonwy called out hesitantly, reaching out to her son. But he was gone. Acastus had turned and left the taproom so fast that I had hardly seen him. He was gone in search of the monsters that had hurt his mother. Eilonwy ran after him, I wasn't so quick to follow. I left the inn barely seven minutes after Eilonwy, but when I got to Market, what I found was something I wish never would have happened.
         All three of the Oceans were dead; two of their heads had been severed and one had been cut clan in half at the torso. The looks upon their dead faces were ones of such terror that it would make any man wonder what monster could instill such fear into the hearts of men.
         Well, that monster was laying not three feet away, unconscious, with blood on his face and body. Acastus was alright, so I ignored him, and began to search for Eilonwy. She had run after Acastus, so she should have been there too.
         I found her not far away. Her body lay at the bottom of a streak of blood that ran down a brick wall at the edge of the Market Square. The blood had come from the back of her head as she struck it against the wall and then slid down to the ground. Her ribcage was completely collapsed, as if some immense force had slammed into her and propelled her backwards. I think that's exactly what happened.” Dmitri looked at Cybil with all the seriousness of an undertaker.
         “Acastus murdered three men and his own mother. The only person in his life whom he ever cared for. He's dangerous. Promise me that you won't go near him anymore, it would kill me to see any harm come to you.” he begged her, pleading with his dark brown eyes.
         Cybil longed to say yes, but she knew that she couldn't, not now, not anymore. She had fallen for Acastus' spell, and now that she was in the trap, she had no desire to escape.
         Dmitri still waited for an answer, but Cybil was saved from giving one when Marguerite opened the door and peered in at her son and employee.
         “Oh, so here you are, Cybil. I've been looking for you.”
         Cybil stood up hastily, “I'm sorry Marguerite! I'll get back to work at once, I...”
         “Don't worry child, you can go home, it's nightfall, and most of the other girls are leaving as well.”
         Cybil smiled and nodded her thanks.
         Marguerite left, and Cybil turned to follow. As she was about to reopen the door, a hand pushed it closed again. Cybil looked up and saw Dmitri looking down at her.
         “Dmitri, I need to go...” she protested, trying to move his hand away from the door.
         Dmitri put his hand under her chin, raising it so she would look at him. His eyes were sad, almost like Acastus' eyes, but not quite.
         “Dmitri, I...”
         She never finished. At that very moment Dmitri leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. They felt warm against her mouth, and the feeling made her heart flutter like a bird.
         After a minute or so, he pulled back and whispered quietly,
         “Promise me that you'll stay away from the Terran, Cybil. Please...”
         But she couldn't. Cybil was at a total loss for words. She just stared wide eyed at Dmitri, and then turned to leave.
         He let her go this time, and watched as she disappeared through the doorway to the taproom.
         Cybil grabbed her heavy wool cloak and put it around her shoulders. She fumbled a bit with the clasp. Her fingers were cold and couldn't get a good grip on the iron pin and her mind still lingered on the feeling of Dmitri's lips on her own. Warm fingers gently pushed hers aside and pinned the clasp for her.
         Cybil looked up to see Acastus standing there before her. He was smiling. Though Cybil had known him less than an hour, she already knew that she liked his smile. And her favorite thing about him was the way that his eyes crinkled when he did.
         “Thank you,” she said, smiling back at him.
         Acastus shook his head. “No, I should thank you. You've done me a favor that has saved my life. I'm indebted to you for that, and I'm simply trying to repay you.”
         Cybil was surprised, “Oh. Uh, what favor did I do you?” she asked with a question on her face.
         Acastus' smile softened, “You trusted me.” he said quietly, looking into her amber eyes. They stood there like that, peering into each other’s eyes like two lovers in a fairytale.
         “I'm Cybil, by the way.” Cybil said, breaking the enchantment. She held out her hand for him to take.
         Acastus was confused at first; no one had ever offered him their hand before. But he had seen men do it on many, many occasions, so he followed the set example. Acastus took her hand gently in his own, and brought it silently to his lips.
         Cybil was a bit thrown off guard; this was not what she had expected. She was thinking more along the lines of a handshake, but she figured that whatever suited Acastus was fine.
         “May I walk you home, Miss Cybil?” Acastus asked when he had released her hand.
         Cybil laughed. It was a lovely thing, like the tinkling of so many crystal bells. “Cybil, just call me Cybil.”
         Acastus nodded, and smiled, “Alright, Cybil....” he paused, trying out the word on his tongue. “May I walk you home?” he inquired once more.
         Cybil grinned,
         “Yes, you may.” and she held out her arm for him.
         Acastus linked his arm in hers and turned towards the door. He opened it, and then shivered as the icy wall of air hit him. He recovered quickly though, and held the door open for Cybil, temporarily unhooking his arm from hers.
         As Acastus turned to close the door again, he looked back into the taproom one last time. It was there that he met a pair of dark eyes that he had known since childhood. Those eyes burned with hatred, and if looks could kill, Acastus would have been dead a thousand times over already.
         The Terran did not shy away from that malicious gaze, but instead met it head on, with his own eyes blazing a challenge.
         'Come and get me,' they said. And then Acastus shut the door to the inn, cutting off the flow of warm air to the icy night.



Chapter Two

         The night was silent. Not even the Cybil's heavy footfalls succeeded in shattering the dense blanket of stillness that lay over the village. A stiff northern wind raised its head, piercing Cybil's thick woolen cloak as if it were woven from the thinnest linen.
         She shivered, instinctively pressing her small frame closer to the much warmer Acastus. Cybil looked up at him with a question burning on her lips.
         “Aren't you cold, Acastus?” she voiced, wondering how he ever managed to stand the chill night air while wearing his attire.
         Acastus wore a very simple outfit: a padded linen gambeson that had a high collar and laced up the front. Over top of that was a short-sleeved brown leather jerkin that was held together across Acastus' torso by four buckles and was belted around his waist. Covering his legs was only a pair of skin-tight leather trews that appeared no warmer than the cotton chemise that Cybil wore underneath her wool dress. On his feet were no more than a pair of knee-length leather soft-boots.
         Acastus' complete attire was nothing unusual, Cybil had seen many men in her days wearing similar if not the same garments__in the summer. Indeed, in all of her days she had never seen a man wear such light clothing in the winter. And it was winter-time. The month of April always brought heavy snow fall and miserable winds from the northern reaches of Daan. Even now,  the ground was already frosty with a layer of whiteness thirteen centimeters thick. Acastus must have been truly mad to wear such inappropriate clothing for the weather of the Tyrian Mountains.
         Acastus took his time answering. His green eyes trailed up past the roofs of the buildings and the peaks of the mountains to the night sky.
         The stars were out tonight. The impenetrable stratum of the sky was scattered with millions upon millions of the tiny lights. The brightest of them, Nenys and Ithyn, shined their brilliant vermillion beacons across the night sky, blotting out the pallid efforts of the nearby stars. The Dvojitá Rubíny they were called__the Twin Rubies. The Dvojitá Rubíny were two of the few cerise stars that could be seen in the sky, most of the other stars were varying shades of white, yellow, and blue. Nenys and Ithyn, named for the Wyrda__or twins gods of Fate, were the jewels of the night-sky. They stayed in the same place in the sky every night of the year, and it seemed that all other stars revolved around them. Every traveler knew the sight of them, for their own safety relied upon the guiding light of the twin stars.
         They were especially bright tonight, for neither moon nor cloud marred the night-time sky with their tawdry presence. That was a rarity. Of the three moons__ Kelkast, Estus, and Nenith__that hung tethered to the earth, one of them, if not all, was always present a few degrees above the eastern horizon. Acastus had never in all his twenty years seen the veil of the sky without at least one of them. He wondered why they were not present now...
         After some minutes of pondering the reason behind the disappearance of the three moons, Acastus looked down at Cybil. He was frowning slightly, as if the question he was about to answer bothered him.
         “No,” he told her quietly, casting his gaze back onto the road in front of him. “I've never been able to feel the cold__or the heat. Not in any significant degree, anyway...”
         Acastus fell silent.
         Cybil was silent as well. She stared at Acastus, noticing a demeanor that had not been there a moment before. By asking that one simple question, Cybil had caused Acastus to metamorphose from an easy-going young man into a man who seemed to hold the weight of the world upon his shoulders. He seemed to have aged several decades even though his physical countenance had not changed: his green eyes were heavy with grief, and his once proud posture was now like that of a man who had lost everything precious to him.
         Questions writhed in Cybil's mind, each one shoving and buffeting the other in a desperate endeavour to liberate itself from the confines of her mind by way of Cybil's mouth and tongue. The young girl was hard pressed to keep the glut of questions at bay.
         “You can, I don't mind.” Acastus said, glancing down at her and seeing the conflict of emotion playing in her eyes.
         Before she could restrain herself, Cybil let loose the single most brilliant question she had in her arsenal:
         “Huh?”
         Now Acastus looked down on her. He was mildly surprised that Cybil had not known what he meant, but nevertheless, he reiterated his statement.
         “Your questions. It's alright if you ask them of me. I won't be offended.” he told her, cocking his eyebrow high upon his forehead.
         Cybil was at a loss for words. She stared at Acastus, amber eyes wide and direful.
         Can he read my thoughts? she wondered, panic beginning to course its way throughout her entire being. Blood rushed to her face and ears, causing her once fair skin to appear rosy with her blush. She realized that if Acastus could read her thoughts, then he would inevitably bear a complete record of every thought and feeling that she had ever had__including the thoughts and feelings about him.
Cybil shook herself mentally; No, he can't read my thoughts, that's silly... Cybil's told herself, refusing to let herself be psyched out by the preternatural young man that walked beside her. And yet, even as she thought this, she was once again lured in by Acastus' transcendental appearance. The more Cybil studied his face, the more sensual details of it seemed to strike her: Acastus' thin eyebrows, his straight small nose, the high cheekbones, all of it was beautiful to Cybil. She found herself wishing more than anything for the chance to touch the smooth skin of Acastus' brow, trace the line of his narrow jaw so soft and graceful__caress the gentle curve of his lips....No, Cybil snapped at herself in her mind. Remember what Dmitri told you: he's not human. No, indeed not. In fact, the more she looked at Acastus, the less human and more like a god incarnate he looked....more like an Elyne.
         Acastus was confused, he saw a myriad of emotions spark across Cybil's face, but he had no idea what was going on in that head of hers. Forsooth, what man really knows what thoughts the woman he holds precious to him conceives of?
         “Uuh, Cybil?” he asked, both brows raised now. “Are you alri--”
         “What questions?” Cybil demanded, cutting him off in mid-sentence. She silenced herself immediately. Her face turned an even darker shade of red after she realized what she had just done.
         Acastus looked at her a moment, thoroughly confused, unsure of how to react. After some minutes, he decided upon the safest course of action available to him: he began to laugh. Acastus began laughing so hard that he had to stop walking. He doubled over, overcome with loud guffaws and giggles. He fell on his back, clutching on his sides.
         Cybil looked at him strangely, seriously reconsidering her earlier idolization of the young man before her.
         Acastus rolled onto his side, effectively covering his head and body in the powdery snow.
         “What's so hilarious?” Cybil asked, putting her hands on her hips.
         Acastus ignored her for several minutes, unable to get himself under control.
         Cybil was becoming irritated. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, and her voice was like unto a cutting blade of ice.
         “Acastus, you're making a fool of yourself.”
         That put a severe dampener on his laugh attack, but even so, it was still not enough to completely snuff it out.
         Acastus lay flat on his back as his entire frame shook with his dying laughter. He looked up at Cybil, eyes watering from the exertion of such vigorous laughter. He wiped a tear from his eye.
         “Are you quite finished?” she asked coldly, cocking her head to the side.
         Acastus chuckled, “Yeah, I'm do-hyup...done.” he said, speech interrupted by a hiccup. He continued hiccuping for several minutes, each one sending a bolt of pain through his ribcage. This new pain made his eyes water more than the laughing fit he has just endured a few minutes ago.
         Cybil said nothing, merely looked at him.
         Acastus swallowed three large gulps of air, dispelling the hiccups with an iron-will. He succeeded, then with an over-exaggerated sigh, Acastus hoisted himself up using his heavy walking stick, which had dropped next to him when he had fallen. Soon, he was leaning upon its dark black shaft. Acastus' green eyes gleamed with a giddy spark, and he waggled his eyebrows playfully at Cybil.
         Cybil's own eyebrows knitted together in consternation. She looked at Acastus scornfully.
         “What?” she snapped, glaring through the snow at him.
         Acastus grinned wolfishly, and shook his head like a dog would. A shower of snow and grass exploded from his flaxen mane, effectively spraying Cybil's face with small, damp flakes.
         Much like an adolescent girl, Cybil squealed, and ducked behind her arm.
         Acastus laughed again, squinting his eyes against the drops of water that fell from his bangs into them.
         Cybil was laughing as well. Unable to resist the urge, Cybil bent down and picked up a handful of snow. Having grown up in the southern portion of Ageosia__which was the country just south of Daan__this was the first experience Cybil had ever had with snow. However, she was still child enough to realize that a packed ball of snow could serve as an excellent weapon.
         With all the concentration of a soldier, Cybil aimed, and threw.
         The snowball flew at Acastus with tremenous speed. The flaxen-maned Terran saw too late the blur of white hurdling towards him. His face paled, and his eye widened with shock.
         The projectile hit Acastus square in the throat. It blew up against his Adam's apple