Taboo (Conintor's Story) (ch. 18)

[freakazoid]

I REQUIRE MORE.

[Phoenixwildfire]

Ch. 14- Duel


Conintor looked up from forming another sword as a knock sounded from the door. He set the sword down and opened the door, surprised to see Serena standing in the doorway, her green eyes wide.

“C-can I please come in?” She whispered, looking over her shoulder nervously.

“Of course.” Conintor stood from the doorway to let her inside, watching her sit down on the couch. He looked out the door, seeing if anyone had followed Serena before closing the door and sitting on the couch beside her.

“So, what’s wrong?” Conintor looked at the small woman as she stared at the ground shyly.

“I’m not sure how to say this…” She looked away in shame. “But with Raoul and Vitali on a honeymoon trip, I don’t really have another place to go.”

Conintor frowned solemnly. “He hurt you again?”

Serena looked up at him shyly, and smiled slightly. “Your face looks kind of funny when you’re so serious.”

Conintor sighed in frustration and put his palm to his face. “Great- so when I’m trying to be serious I look funny... fantastic. Either way, please answer my question.” He took his hand away, looking down at Serena.

She lifted her shirt a bit, showing a large bruise that blossomed from her hip to her waist.

Conintor sighed unhappily, looking down at the bruise. “I really don’t like that man.” He growled angrily.

“But Vitali is gone… what should I do?” Serena looked nervously at Conintor. “If I go to another healer, they may take Nostro away…”

“Honestly, I couldn’t care less what happens to the man. But that would make you look bad if your husband was arrested like that. So…” He rubbed his forehead in frustration. “I can try healing you… I learned a bit of earth healing in my studies, but… not much.”

Serena looked up at him in surprise, a bright smiling coming over her face. “Oh, you’d do that for me?”

“Of course.” Conintor said, amused by her sudden happiness. He stood up from the couch, motioning for her to lay down.

Serena leaned back against the cushions of the couch, unable to help but jump in surprise when he lifted her shirt carelessly to reveal the bruise.

“Aye, that’s a nasty one.” Conintor muttered in anger. He put his hands over the mark, hoping he remembered how to do this right…

Serena flinched in pain as the magic started working, her skin burning from the earth magic. “Ah, why does it hurt so much?” She whimpered.

“Earth healing isn’t the best- why do you think healers are normally water magi?” Conintor said, hoping to try and calm her while he continued. She squirmed in pain as he reformed skin, healing blood vessels and working his best to do it right. Healing always made him nervous- it was so easy to do so much damage by mistake.

He sighed when he finished the healing and wiped the sweat that had beaded on his forehead from the concentration. “All done. You should be better now.”

Serena nodded and slipped her shirt back down, sitting up as Conintor moved away from her to sit back beside her. “So… where’s Novilo?” She looked around the house and saw no sign of the magi.

“Novi is training some recruits in small blades maneuvers. He should be back tonight.” Conintor shrugged. He leaned back and glanced over to the woman as she watched the door uneasily.

“You probably think I’m weak for not wanting to leave Nostro, don’t you?” She whispered uneasily.

Conintor watched her for a minute through the tension and let out a long sigh. “I don’t think you’re weak. I just think you’re making a poor decision. The guy’s a complete ass, and if he loved you he would never hurt you.” He eyed her pointedly, trying to get his point across. “No matter how drunk he gets.”

Serena nodded softly. “Raoul tries to tell me that too- but… sometimes I see something in him that makes me stay- he has good in him, he just has a hard time expressing himself. It’s that darn magic of his, it messes with his head I think.”

Conintor was going to ask what she meant when a loud rapping came to the door, making Serena jump in shock with a loud squeak. Conintor frowned as he stood and walked over to the door, opening it slowly to reveal an angry man staring at him.

“Who are you?” The man growled in anger, his teeth grinding as his fists clenched at his sides.

“Conintor, earth magi and owner of the elk stables. Who are you?” Conintor asked, having never seen the man before. He heard another squeak from behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Serena staring at the man with wide green eyes.

“Serena!” The man yelled in anger. “What are you doing here? How many times have I told you to just stay at home until it’s gone?”

Serena opened her mouth to say something and hesitated, closing it again when no words would come out.

“So you’re Nostro?” Conintor eyed the man suspiciously. He was tall- about Conintor’s height with dark wavy hair and light skin, contrasting against Serena’s own darker tan skin as she sat on the couch staring at the two men.

“How do you know Serena?” Nostro’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“I was only healing her- I’m friends with her.” Conintor scoffed in disbelief. Was the man jealous? He couldn’t be that overprotective of a woman he abused almost daily… could he? How did that make any sense?

“She doesn’t need anyone’s help.” Nostro growled, holding his hand out to her. “Come on Serena, we’re going home. You don’t need to be in some guy’s house.”

Serena nodded softly and walked up to the door, looking down in shame as she walked past Conintor as he stared at her in disbelief. She was leaving with him… again.

“Hey Con I’m home-“ Novilo said, materializing in the living room as he flew through the window as wind. He stared at the scene in front of him in confusion, his purple eyes widening. “Who’s that?”

“That’s Serena’s husband- you know, the one that abuses her?” Conintor hissed, glaring at the man.

“You live with another man?” Nostro said in shock, looking at Conintor with a mocking laughter in his eyes. “Don’t tell me- you’re gay? You like men?”

Serena made a small pained sound as Novilo tensed behind Conintor.

“You do! You’re both absolute fags!” Nostro laughed harshly, brown eyes dark with a terrible amusement.

“Nostro- stop.” Serena grabbed the man’s sleeve gently, whispering softly to get him to stop.

“Stop?” Nostro stared down at her in disbelief. “You’re the one that’s friends with these… men. I can’t believe this is where you disappear to!”

“They’re my friends.” Serena frowned.

“Not anymore.” Nostro stared down at her harshly.

“But-“ Serena protested and flinched as Nostro moved suddenly to raise a hand.

Conintor moved quickly, grabbing the man’s wrist and squeezing tightly with callused hands. “Lay a hand on her and I’ll riddle you with stones.” He said calmly, his voice dark and even.

“Just try.” Nostro said, his eyes glowing as he clenched his hand.

“Conintor, don’t!” Serena yelled as the men came apart from each other. Nostro stumbled as Conintor threw him backwards by his arm and followed him out the doorway.

“Con!” Novilo yelled in concern, but took Serena back into the house as the men rounded on each other, both taking on a dueling stance.

“You don’t deserve her- all you ever do is hurt her.” Conintor hissed.

“Oh, and you’d rather she be alone? I’m sure she’d have something to say about that.” Nostro smiled wryly.

Conintor growled in anger and leaned down, shoving his fists against the dirt of the street so that stones seeped up over his fist, making a second hardened skin over his own. He smashed the two fists of rock together- pebbles flying off as he prepared to fight the man.

Nostro tilted his head with a dark smile and reached down, placing his own fists against the ground. Conintor watched in shock as the same magic gave him a similar advantage, stone covering his skin.

“What the hell?” He whispered to himself in shock. As far as he knew he was the only stone magi in Synara… then how did this guy know how to wield stone magic so readily?

He shifted his duel stance, suddenly realizing this was not going to be as easy as he had thought it would be.

[freakazoid]

Hmmm...Yellowfang thinks she knows why Nostro can do what Con did.

[BluMajica]

ooooooohhh....aaaaaaahhhhhh

[Phoenixwildfire]

ch. 15


Conintor watched Nostro raise his stone-covered fists, pebbles falling from his skin as he fought to keep the stone together. Ah- so it wasn’t a trick. He really was using that magic, but from the looks of it he wasn’t very adept at it…

Conintor flexed his hands for a minute before glancing over his shoulder at Novilo and Serena’s concerned expression- and found it amusing that they were both staring at Conintor in concern- no one cared about this man after all.

“Maybe I should come back after I beat you and knock some sense into that little man of yours” Nostro grinned. “It looks like he could use some.”

Conintor growled low in warning before rushing forward. He raised his hands, a stone circle rising around Nostro so that he tripped as he backed up, falling to the ground with a yell of surprise as Conintor took him by the scruff of the shirt with one stone-covered hand. The stones fell of Nostro’s hands as his concentration broke, his eyes wide as he stared at Conintor in shock. Conintor looked down at him for a minute with wild angry eyes and smashed his fist into the man’s jaw, hearing a satisfying crunch under the stone. He gripped his shirt and brought him closer as Nostro gasped for breath through pain.

“If I ever see you back here again, or you don’t let Serena come back here, I will not have any mercy on you. Both of us know what a sniveling little coward you really are, beating a woman and threatening a man half your size. If you want a good fight, come any time and I’ll remind you why you don’t deserve anything you have, you rotten bastard.” Conintor said lowly to Nostro, before letting his shirt as the man fell to the ground. Nostro stared up at him for a minute before wiping the blood from his mouth and scrambling to his feet. His expression turned dark as he turned around and walked back down the street in the direction he had come from, trying to hide his wounds from other people who stared at him after seeing the fight.

Conintor let the stones fall off his hands, flexing his fingers as he turned and walked back over to Novilo and Serena.

“Oh Conintor, my big strong man.” Novilo swooned playfully. Serena smiled weakly at the comment, but looked after Nostro as he walked away.

“I should probably go see if he’s alright.” She whispered, then looked over to Conintor. “Thank you, for trying to help.” She whispered before running after Nostro.

“Wha- Okay, now I’m confused. I thought she didn’t really like him.” Novilo looked after her as she ran off.

“Love is blind… and apparently sometimes stupid.” Conintor sighed in frustration and looked back to Novilo. “How was your training?”

Novilo smiled. “Apparently they want me to come back. I must be pretty good at fighting as well, hmm?”

“When we spar I can’t even touch you.” Conintor scoffed. “How can you think you weren’t good?”

Novilo shrugged and held Conintor’s arm as they walked inside. “I guess because I’m not as strong as you.” He smiled.

“You don’t have to be strong.” Conintor said insistently. “Your strength is in your speed.”

Novilo smiled warmly and closed the door behind them, looking up to Conintor with a mischievous grin. “How about I show you how speedy you can be too?”

Conintor blushed as Novilo dragged him across the living room to the bedroom, shoving him inside before closing the door behind them.


Conintor looked out the window thoughtfully, amused at how quickly a few years could pass. Vitali had given birth to her first child, an adorable baby girl with her father’s eyes but her mother’s attitude. Raoul was almost done building the cabin, which was big enough to house several families.

“Watcha thinking of, big guy?” Novilo said, looking up at Conintor while he leaned against his shoulder.

“I was just thinking of Raoul, Vitali and little Pheona.” Conintor said with a gentle shrug so he didn’t disturb Novilo.

“Ah, Vitali wanted to go shopping for a new dress tomorrow. That girl’s growing fast.” Novilo smiled.

“Not another frilly pink thing” Conintor looked down at him in exasperation.

“Why not?” Novilo chuckled in amusement. Vitali reveled in dressing Pheona in pink lacy dresses.

They both looked up at a knock on the door, quiet and shy.

“I’ll bet that’s Serena.” Conintor smiled. Only she was shy enough to knock that softly.

“I’ll get it.” Novilo said, vanishing into a purple breeze and rematerializing at the door to open it.

It was indeed Serena, who was looking around in her usual nervous manner. “Hey Novilo, Conintor.” She said, smiling softly.

“What can we do for you, sweetie?” Novilo asked, moving aside to let Serena into the house.

“I was hoping I could use one of the elk to ride to Avalon? I’d like to speak with Vitali.” She whispered, glancing out the window.

“Let me guess- Nostro doesn’t know you’re here?” Conintor said with a frown at her anxious behavior.

Serena shook her head softly. “He doesn’t like me coming here.” She said sadly.

“Probably because Con kicked his ass last time.” Novilo muttered with a smile of amusement.

“You can take Prancer if Novilo and I can come with you. Just in case.” Conintor said, standing from the couch.

“Of course.” Serena said, smiling with relief.

“Good- I’ll saddle up Saiga and Prancer then. We should be there by this afternoon.” Conintor said, stretching before walking forward toward the door.

“You guys are both so nice to me.” Serena smiled happily. “Thank you.”

“No big deal, sweetie.” Novilo said softly, and looked over to Conintor. “I’ll meet you guys there, I’m taking the express route.” He said, vanishing into wind and flowing out an open window.

Conintor rolled his eyes with a grin and opened the door for Serena before walking over to the stables to ready the elk.

[freakazoid]

xDDDD
Haha Nostro lolol. FAIL.
And Serena...what are you doing? Don't go back to him!?

[SeaCrest]

*threatens to throttle Nostro* Evil, conniving, abusive, hard-headed...PERSON. Since methinks he is not a regular magi...?

*hugs Serena* He's a big bad bully and doesn't deserve you.

But it's true. Love is blind and stupid.

[Phoenixwildfire]

ch. 16


Conintor and Serena rode into Avalon, looking around at the hundreds of creatures running through the forest around them.

“They’ve been busy.” Conintor chuckled in amusement. Most of the creatures were draconian- Raoul seemed to have an affinity for them.

Serena nodded as she looked around with wide eyes. They rode over to the cabin, where Novilo and Vitali stood talking, little Pheona sitting on Novilo’s shoulders while he held her legs for support.

“Ah, there you are.” Vitali smiled to them in greeting. “Novilo said you’d be arriving soon.” Vitali smiled as Conintor dismounted Saiga, walking over to Serena to help her down as well. She dropped down as Conintor caught her, faltering a bit as she wobbled on her feet.

“You okay?” He said in concern.

“Yeah.” Serena smiled reassuringly and walked over to Vitali and Novilo with Conintor.

Raoul walked out of the cabin, looking to Serena with a smile after looking her over. “Hey sis, what brings you here?”

“I was hoping Vitali would check something for me. I want to be sure before telling anyone.” Serena said, ignoring Raoul’s confused expression.

“Sure dear, we’ll go inside and leave the men to talk.” Vitali smiled softly, leading Serena inside.

Raoul watched after them and sighed in frustration. “Women.” He muttered.

“I know.” Novilo smiled in amusement, making Conintor and Raoul laugh.

Pheona reached for her father, leaning over so that Novilo passed the child to him. He tossed her up into the air playfully before settling her on his shoulders.

“So how have you two been doing lately?” Raoul asked.

“Good- though obviously not as busy as you’ve been.” Conintor said, pointing to the finished cabin behind them.

“Yeah… I think I went a little overboard. Oh well, at least visitors will be comfortable, right?” He chuckled.

“Yeah- all 50 of them.” Novilo grinned.

Someone yelled from inside the cabin, followed by laughter. Raoul looked to the door with a confused expression, waiting for Vitali and Serena to walk back out.

“I was right.” Serena said, beaming happily. “I’m going to have another child.”

Conintor smiled in relief as Novilo squealed happily, clapping his hands in excitement.

“I’m glad, sis.” Raoul smiled warmly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder affectionately.

Serena looked at her friends happily, glad she was able to share the news with them.

A loud screeching sound cried out overhead, making them all look up in surprise as something catapulted through the air. A large fireball pummeled into the ground of the forest a short distance away, making them all struggle for balance as the ground shook.

“That… was odd.” Conintor said uneasily, looking in that direction as Raoul nodded grimly in agreement.

“Vitali dear, take Pheona. I’m going to go check out what that was.” Raoul took Pheona off his shoulders as she cried in fright at the loud sound and shaking.

“It’s okay, sweetie.” VItali said as she walked Raoul, Conintor and Novilo walk into the forest to investigate the crash.

“I smell it, so it must be nearby.” Conintor said, moving branches aside as they made their way through the thick forest. He looked up at a fallen tree, freshly snapped from its trunk and followed the direction of the trunk to see a massive pile of red and gold scales, fire licking at the edges of the crater in which the creature had fallen.

“Stay back here for a minute- it looks like a fire drake.” Raoul said cautiously, the fire mage moving forward in his red and gold robes, looking as if he matched the creature perfectly as he approached it. The drake let out a low growl and shifted, lifting its head to look at Raoul with bright eyes, the slit-like pupils adjusting to the light as Raoul froze in place anxiously.

Novilo gripped Conintor’s sleeve nervously, knowing all too well how hot-headed fire drakes were.

The fire drake let out a puff of smoke from its nostrils and laid its head back down, gasping for breath as its tongue lolled out of its mouth.

“It looks like it’s in pain.” Raoul said in concern, walking over to the creature. It seemed like a younger drake- it was only as tall as he was, while most were a bit taller than this. He rested his hand against the drake’s red scales, feeling the warmth that came from its inner furnace of fire through its skin.

“We should take it back to Avalon- Vitali may be able to heal it.” Conintor suggested as he and Novilo walked over once they saw the drake wasn’t going to attack.

“That’s a good idea. Could you guys help me carry it?” Raoul said, resting his hand against the drake’s cheek reassuringly. “It’ll be alright big guy, we’re going to take care of you, alright?”

Much to Raoul’s surprise the drake nodded slightly and let the three men pick it up, trudging back through the forest with the drake toward Avalon.


“What happened? Was that what fell?” Vitali asked, setting Pheona down on the ground as Raoul, Conintor and Novilo set the drake down carefully.

“Yeah- I think he’s hurt.” Raoul said, rubbing his shoulders from carrying the heavy beast such a distance.

“I’ll do my best.” Vitali said in concern, making sure Pheona stood back from the drake as he sputtered out a smoky cough against the ground. Vitali rested her slender hands on the dragon’s head, noticing the drake look up at her warily with its black slitted eyes. She flowed her magic through the creature, the drake letting out a low hiss of relief as the pain faded.

Vitali stood back and let the drake stand, looking around him at the humans. The fire-wings that flared from his back faded into the spine of flames that went from his head to his tail. He let out a low growl and nodded to them in thanks.

“Seems to be okay now.” Conintor glanced over to Vitali, who nodded with relief. The drake tapped its foot impatiently, as if waiting for something.

“Welcome to Avalon.” Raoul said with a smile at the drake’s personality. “You may stay here if you’d like, or you may leave to go to your destination. The choice is yours, fire drake- though you are welcome to stay here as long as you’d like.”

Pheona rushes past her mother, much to Vitali’s horror, and grabbed onto the drake’s leg in a friendly hug. “Fire thing stay!” She said in protest as the drake looked down at her in surprise.

Raoul watched with curiosity as the drake set its claws gently on the child’s head and puffed out a ring of smoke from its nostrils. This drake was… different from most drakes for some reason. It seemed much more calm- much more friendly than usual.

The drake pushed Pheona away gently and leaned down, using his claw to draw something into the dirt. It leaned back up and waited for the humans to look at what it had drawn.

‘Asim’. Was clawed into the dirt in messy handwriting- but no one there had ever seen a creature write anything before, so they were all too busy staring at the words in shock to try and realize what it meant.
The drake growled indignantly and pointed to the word, then to himself.

“I think that’s his name.” Novilo said in realization after the shock wore off. The drake nodded eagerly in agreement, then sat down on the ground, its tail curling around him.

“Interesting…” Raoul said thoughtfully, glancing over at the drake. “Apparently our new addition to the keep seems to be… strange. This will be interesting.” He smiled eagerly at the chance to communicate with a draconian creature.


((10 pts to those who know what 'Asim' means))

[Phoenixwildfire]

I'm putting this story into fanfiction.net as well- since it was messed up too :tard:

Here we are: Updated with all current chapters!

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7074917/1/T ... tors_Story

[SeaCrest]

I'm putting this story into fanfiction.net as well- since it was messed up too :tard:

Here we are: Updated with all current chapters!

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7074917/1/T ... tors_Story

*cheers* You don't know how much I missed these stories