Some Other World

Spinning Tales Like a Real Spider.... Sorry Annabeth

It seemed that Roran had convinced the villagers to trust me, because after half an hour I was let out of the little room I had been put in. I had spent most of the time talking to Anareem, who explained to me the issues that Dragon Riders faced in this world. The king, Galbatorix... he sounds like a Zeus-level piece of work. But I understood now why she had fled so quickly. If these people sympathized with the king, we'd both be dead.

They sat me down in the middle of what I assumed was a pub. There was a bar in the corner, and the whole room was lit by old-fashioned kerosene style lamps. The group of about fifty villagers made a circle around me, many of them whispering to each other.

This feels like an interrogation. I complained to Anareem.

'It probably is.'

Gee. Thanks. I looked up as someone cleared their throat.

"Who are you?" A burly woman with an apron asked.

"Percy." I figured honesty was the best policy. Unless they asked me where I was from. Then it would get interesting.

"Why were you in the Spine?" A voice asked from the crowd. I couldn't see who it was.

"I live there." I shrugged.

This caused what could only be described as general uproar.

"Enough!" Roran bellowed over the crowd. I had to give him props, they all settled down immediately.

"Have you always lived in the Spine?"

"Uh. Yeah?" I looked around. "Why?"

"The Spine is uninhabitable." The woman spat.

"Clearly not." I shot back.

"Birgit." Roran said calmly, addressing the woman. She shot him a look very similar to what she had given me. No love lost between these two then.

"Tell us about where you lived, Percy." Roran said after a moment.

Oh boy. This was where the fun started.

"Well, for a very long time I lived deep in the mountains-"

"The only creatures that live in the Spine are the Urgals." A large man off to the side grunted. I noted that a lot of these people were very broad-shouldered and muscular. Was that just how everyone grew up here?

"Are you going to let me tell my story or not?" I crossed my arms.

"Let him speak." Roran urged. There was some grumbling, but the group settled down again fairly quickly. I continued.

"I lived in a clan. We rarely left the small village that we had set up, because there are creatures in the... Spine, you said? The creatures there can be very dangerous." I sighed, looking down.

'Explain your powers.'

I'm sorry, WHAT?

'If you don't, when they see them they will be suspicious.'

I gritted my teeth a little. Anareem was right.

"They kicked me out because I was different."

Roran frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, uh...." I held my hand out, palm up. "I can do this."

A thin stream of dirty water from behind the bar coiled into a ball above my hand. There were gasps and yells.

"You're a magician?" Roran asked, with a slightly accusing tone.

"No. Well, yes. But also no."

He frowned. "What?"

I shrugged. "I did study under a magician, and have some control of everything... but the water powers are a very different story. I was born with them."

"That's not possible." A huge man in the back growled.

"Horst, let him tell his tale."

"The Spine does strange things to people...." Someone whispered from the crowd. I fought not to grin. There was my perfect excuse.

"The powers in the mountains concentrate themselves near streams of water." I explained. "The whole village has similar powers."

"Then why did they kick you out?" Birgit asked.

"The whole village has the same powers. Control of plants." I shrugged. "I guess they didn't like that I was different."

More grumbling. I absentmindedly began to filter the gunk out of the water in my hand.

"Look!"

All eyes turned to me again.

"Baldor, what-"

"Roran... the water...."

He looked at my hand, then at me. Then he turned sharply and began to walk off. "Baldor, Albriech, Fisk. I must speak with you."

"What do we do with the boy?" Birgit demanded.

"Oh just put me back in the room you had me in before." I rolled my eyes. "Clearly, you don't trust me, at least then you don't have to worry about other accommodations for me."

The others looked at Roran. Though it seemed that several of them had an issue with him, he was clearly the leader in the group by some unspoken agreement.

He eyed me for a moment, then nodded sharply. "Put him back in the room. Post a guard outside the door. He'll get meals twice a day until we decide otherwise."

Such a welcoming group of people I've ended up with.