Mahokaze of Niamh

-Prologue- Niamh?
The morning sun shone through the window curtains, the light falling on a teenage girl’s eyes. They slowly opened; the purple orbs innocent like the eyes of a child. Still drowsy from sleep they watched the white ceiling above the bed their owner laid in. The girl sighed, another day would come; the same like all the others. She rubbed her eyes and opened them once more. She moved her head a little so she could look out of the window. She saw the same mountains as she did everyday, the same sun that always shone low at this time of hour and the same, green trees that would turn brown in autumn. The girl sighed; if life did not change soon she would die of boredom.

“Aiko-chan!”

The girl looked at her door after she heard her mother call her name.

“Are you awake? Keiko-kun is here!” Her mother said.

Aiko sighed again as she slowly got up from her warm bed. She quickly changed in her school clothes and when she was almost finished, a knock was heard on her bedroom door, followed by a masculine voice.

“Aiko-san, can I come in?”

“Just a sec!”

She quickly put on the rest of her clothes and walked to the door. As she opened it in one fluid move there stood her friend Keiko. The same blue hair and brown eyes as always, the hair slightly ruffled. Aiko laughed, even more when she saw the look on her friend’s face. It was priceless!

“What?!” The confused boy finally asked.

“Ah, nothin’! You just looked funny that’s all.”

Keiko sweatdropped; that was just something Aiko would say.

“Anyway… Are you ready to go?”

Aiko walked to the mirror.

“Almost, I still have to brush my hair.”

As she reached for her brush, Keiko put his hand on hers.

“Please, let me.”

Aiko looked up and smiled.

“Okay!”

The boy got a hold of the brush and signed Aiko to sit down on her bed. Sitting down himself, he looked at his friend’s hair. It had the same color as his, the shade slightly lighter. The locks reached her lower back and it was ruffled due to the hours of sleep.

“Do you want it loose again?” He asked as he began brushing Aiko’s hair.

“Hmm? Yes, loose will be fine.”

Keiko smiled; she always wanted it loose. He could still remember the times she wore her hair in a ponytail everyday, but then something happened to her hair and she never wanted to wear a ponytail again. He could not remember what had happened though.
Aiko’s hair was soft under his hands and he was finished soon after he started. It wasn’t ruffled anymore, no, it was shining in the sunlight.

Aiko turned to look at him.

“Ready?”

Keiko smiled.

“Always.”

She stood up and looked down on him, as if waiting for him to stand; he stood too. The girl turned to the door and opened it happily. Keiko sighed, how could someone be happy on a school day with your worst classes? Oh well, better start running if he wanted to keep up with Aiko. He grinned; she could be so hyperactive sometimes.

~*At another place…*~
“Is this it?” A mysterious person asked his partner.

“Yes… Time has finally come. The girl will change history…”

~*Back to the main character.*~
“Keiko! Hurry up, hurry up! We’re gonna be late for school!”

Keiko looked at Aiko; she was running ahead of him. Her hair was floating behind her and she smiled as she looked at him. She is extremely happy today. Did something happen? Keiko sighed, something had happened.

“And, of course, she would not tell me…” He mumbled, sounding hurt.

“Did you say something Keiko-kun?”

Aiko said, turning her head to look at him, still running.

“Ah! No! It was nothi-…”

His sentence was cut off as a strong gush of wind pushed him aside. It was then that he looked across the street Aiko was about to cross.

“Aiko! Watch out!”

Aiko looked to her left, but it was too late to escape the car that came. The last thing she felt before blackness clamed her was a strong pulling of some sort of wind…

~*At the mysterious place…*~
“It has begun…”

~*Someone’s dream.*~
The sun was shining bright. Small dots of light appeared on the grassy ground when the wind played with the leaves of the trees. Something was about to happen, he could feel it. The wind was being restless; something that was not normal these days.
The boy opened one of his eyes, awoken from his meditating. Someone had entered his dream, someone with much power, holy power. He sighed, not wanting to stand, but he needed to know whom it was that interrupted his meditating. Maybe then, he could get answers of why the wind was acting so strange.
Following his senses to the holy power, he arrived at a lake. A woman sat herself down on one of the stones, bathing her feet in the water. She was pretty, no… Beautiful was a better word to describe her. The woman reminded him of one of the Goddesses he had heard about from his father. Hair like golden and eyes like crystals…
Suddenly, she looked up, meeting his eyes with hers.

“Ah, you have arrived.”

The woman smiled.

“I am here to inform you of something great that will happen.”

She held her arms above her head while she said, “Awake, Lord Kei, awake! Awake because the chosen One has arrived!”

The boy’s eyes widened of shock. Did the woman mean…? No! That cannot be! Kei frowned; he had thought it was all a fairytale. He did not believe in fairytales…

“My Lord, find the chosen One and help her on her difficult path…”

At that, the woman looked away and everything started to fade; he was beginning to wake up. When everything was all black, what meant that Kei was about to open his eyes, the woman appeared once more. Wings had grown upon her back, just between her shoulderblades.

“Hurry!”

Then, she left…

~*End dream. At Kei’s place.*~
Kei opened his eyes and quickly got out of his huge bed. Changing into his daily robes, he had only one thought in his head. What did the woman in his dream mean? There is only one way to know and that is by going to the place where the chosen One is… First, he needed some information.
When walking out of his bedroom, he crossed paths with one of his servants.

“My Lord, what are you doing at this hour? Is there something wrong?”

Kei looked down; the servant was one of those girls that were new in his household.

“Go back to your headquarters. Tell the others that I do not want to be disturbed. If it’s urgent, tell them to come to the library.” He replied.

The girl stood still for a while but then nodded and quickly walked away. Kei did not wait a second and strode to the library.
He stood before the great oaken doors of his own library. Magical signs that told stories of his father’s great adventures were everywhere. While waiting for his servants to open the doors, he looked at one of the signs that he needed information about. Niamh… Was everything that his father had told him true?
The door was finally open so Kei walked through. He entered the big room, the smell of old paper meeting his nose. Rows of bookshelves that reached up to the ceiling stood beside each other. Different kind of books longed to be touched again after all those years they had been untouched.
The young lord walked trough the rows, to the place that held the oldest books. There he found what he had been looking for. An old book, covered in dust… He blew off the dust. ‘Stories of Niamh’ it said. Slowly opening it, he met a neat handwriting, the ink placed on pages that had turned yellow from oldness. Kei turned some of the pages until he found something that would answer his question:

‘The Call of Niamh
In a time, far after this, the evil that now has been defeated will return. Niamh, the promised land, threatened she shall be.
She who is chosen will come back in time and she shall travel. Together with a young Lord, the chosen One will learn to fight. They shall make many allies but one is to die. They must hurry, for if they are late, evil will conquer and the world will be lost…’

There was a small picture drawn above, showing a great battlefield, probably the battle that was mentioned. He could see many bodies lying on the ground, everyone whom had sacrificed themselves… A heavy battle it must have been; one that is about to repeat itself. The world was in danger and his job was to protect it together with someone else… Kei sighed; he felt a headache coming up.
He needed to go south, to Shann; he guessed there would be someone that would know where this ‘chosen One’ is. Standing up after placing the book back on its place, he walked to the exit. His servants bowed for him, but he ignored them. The lord headed east, through the corridors until he reached a door, the door to his advisor’s room.
He knocked twice and waited. After hearing some sort of rustling, someone inside called, “Come in!”
Kei opened the door and stepped in. A man older than him, his wise advisor Ryuuko, met his sight. A good man he was, always loyal. The lord smirked; you do not find many loyal people these days…
Ah well, he needed to say goodbye now. His smirk dropped.

“My dear advisor…”

The other man looked up, worry shone in his eyes, after hearing that sad tone.

“My Lord, what is it that makes you so sad?”

Kei sighed.

“Time has come my friend, I need to leave. I will first travel south. Where my next destination lies, I do not know…”

Ryuuko’s eyes widened. He had known his lord would have to leave sometime, but so soon already? Kei’s father, his former Lord, had mentioned things about something awful to repeat in time… What was it again? Ah, yes!

“Is this because of Niamh?”

Kei sighed again, “Yes…”

Ryuuko smiled.

“Well, I guess I cannot stop you then.”

The lord laughed.

“Yes. I will leave everything in your command. Please watch this place while I’m gone.”

Ryuuko looked sad.

“Will you ever come back, my Lord?”

“I- I do not know… But that does not mean I give up easily.”

His advisor grinned.

“Oh, of course not!

He smiled.

“Farewell Ryuuko, my friend. May God let us meet again.”

Ryuuko nodded and shook his lord’s hand.

“Until the next time we meet then!”

At that, Kei turned his back on him and walked away…

~*At another place.*~
Aiko groaned, hearing voices that sounded far away. Her head hurt like hell…

“Ah! Is she awake?” One of the voices said.

“…As I was saying, Lord Kei has taken action. He is about to travel to Shann…” Another one said.

“That’s great!”

“Look! The girl has awoken!”

The voices stopped. Aiko groaned again, slowly opening her eyes. Two cobalt eyes met her.

“W- who are you? Where am I?” She confusedly asked after she studied her surroundings.

She was in a big room with walls made of wood, lying on a small feather bed. There was a wooden desk in one of the corners and many women, dressed in robes, were surrounding her.

“Welcome to our world, chosen One…”



-Chapter One- Follow the wind…
Kei walked to the stables; if he got a horse, he could leave. Hmm, his own horse should do well; it had been a long time since he had last seen his old pal Kaya.
The groom jumped up after his arrival and quickly bowed for him. He was a young elf and wore the garments of one: green, silk robes, brown boots and a fluffy brown hat on top of his blond hair. The lord smiled.

“Ryou, get up and prepare Kaya for me. I am going on a long journey.”

The boy looked up.

“Yes my Lord, I will do as I can.”

After a few seconds, Ryou came out of the stable, Kei’s horse followed. Her silver mane shone in the sunlight and she walked towards him with pride. Some things never change, he thought while smirking. Kei put his hand on the horse’s nose and started stroking the fur between her eyes.

“Long time no see, my friend.” He said.

As if understanding, the mare whinnied once in greeting. The lord looked at Ryou.

“I will leave everything up to you. Take care, Ryou, and farewell.”

The boy grinned.

“And farewell to you too, my Lord. I hope I will be seeing you again.”

Kei turned and got on his horse, nodded once and then guided the mare to walk. The people of his village saw him coming and gathered around the main path. Some smiled, some looked sad while his mare walked over the sand. When he went through the gate, he stopped once and turned, taking one last look at his village. He might never come back… Ah well, Kei smiled.

“Off to south then, Kaya.”

The horse pranced and whinnied excitedly. He would finally be traveling, just as his father did all those years ago. All those adventures; he was thrilled…

To be continued ^^