~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ = Perspective changing to our world.

||||||||||||||||||| = Perspective changing away from our world.

................................ = End of chapter

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Today was her birthday, she was turning eight today.  The late January snow meant school was out until the first day of February here in Watertown, New York.  Even as much as it normally snowed, it was uncommon to close school for two days in a row.

The local Army base, Ft. Drum, had declared the roads black, meaning even the soldiers weren't allowed to use them.  Risa sat down at her Piano and began playing Bach's Fugue in G Minor. (LINK) she would be playing it on the church's Pipe organ if the roads opened up by Sunday.

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"Get your bloody sword up Jeremiah!"  a man bellowed over a group of youths.  "Just because today is your birthday, doesn't mean you can slack off!  One lap around the village perimeter for each year of your birth!"  He shouted at one of the boys who held a sword that was obviously not meant for him.  He wore rough clothes, literally made from the sacks his family had gotten the potatoes in their garden from.

Jeremiah began humming along with the music he heard in his head, and took off to complete his designated eight laps.  every once in a while the music would stop and stumble, other times it would complete, and start again, and sometimes, a certain part would repeat, sounding like it belonged there, but something told him it didn't.

His mother had told him he had been born in another village, and he was six months old when he came to Fellgrove, but all the local children treated him as though he had been born here.  Fellgrove wasn't too far from the capitol Gemini, so it got a lot of traders, and cargo transports through.

The music was reaching its peak in his head when the warning bells rang out.  Another raid from the Flaming Skulls Clan, a local Bandit group disguised as mercenaries.  He rounded the corner toward the main gate, the mood of the music shifted to match his own, it was still the same notes that had been playing, but he could tell something was different with it.

He slid to a stop as the Gate Timber was dropped, to lock the gate closed for the remainder of the day, it was a large piece of wood, and it took twelve guards on the ropes to lift it out of its holders, so once it was lowered, it was never raised until the changing of the guard at sunrise.  every time he looked at it, he felt as though he could see a better way to do it, but never voiced his opinion.

Just as the timber was about to slam into place, the gates were hit, and the timber bounced away from the gates far enough to miss the locks, and fell all the way to the ground.  This was bad.  The feel of the music changed again, it sounded almost fearful.

'Please quit reminding me how I feel!'  Jeremiah thought to himself, and it seemed to go back to the adrenaline filled form it had a few moments before.  The second heavy thud resounded from the gate, as it was pushed inward, and the Bandits made their way into the village.

The first person through was a muscular woman, her scream reminded Jeremiah of the stories he had heard about the Marsh Banshees to the south.  She raised her two handed axe while running at him, then brought it over her head and down directly at him, without loosing stride.  The music stopped, and something warm snaked down the inside of his legs.

And then the headache started.  his vision flickered between the scene in front of him, and a black and white wooden box.  there were super realistic paintings on the wall behind the wooden box, but he didn't recognize anyone in them.  A piece of paper was held upright by it, in the vision.  The headache intensified, and he screamed in agony, he heard a second scream tangled with his, a girls' scream, matching his, but obviously different.

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Risa's mother ran into the piano room when she heard her daughter scream.  When the door opened, Risa was holding her head, clearly in pain, but held her eyes wide open, looking at a picture of her and her best friend Rachel that had been taken last year at their vacation home in Woodland Lakes, just outside of Sullivan, Missouri.

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When Anne tried to move her daughter, Risa, through her pain, consciously swatted her mother's hands away.  she would let her mother hold her, but not try to move her, so Anne let her sit on the piano bench and cry, and cry out, but in her other hand was the house phone, she was calling Watertown Emergency Services, hoping that the ambulance would be able to get to her home.

After an hour of the agonizing screams, Risa finally stopped, and passed out.  twenty minutes later, the ambulance was finally able to get to their home just off Water Street.  Anne felt her daughter's forehead, and although Risa was sweating, she was cold to the touch.

one of the neighbors, having heard the screams, and checked on the family, had been shoveling the snow in front of the door, so if the ambulance could get in, it would be easier for them to help the neighbor girl.

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Jeremiah had no idea what had happened.  When his vision stopped looking at the picture of two girls in strange clothes, and vibrant colors, he was welcomed with a view of a frozen axe head a scant inch from the top of his head.  An ice-stalagmite held it in place.  The woman who had held it before was frozen and in various pieces scattered around the gate.  the gate itself was cracking, as though it was quickly thawing from a deep freeze, and a solid wall of ice filled the hole between the gate doors.  

When he saw it, he knew he had done it, but didn't remember how.  He looked around him, and around each town person, there was a perfect circle where the ground looked like the normal summer day it was, but outside of each three foot circle, were the frozen carcasses of the bandits who had made it into the village, most of which were shattering in the overbearing summer heat.

The metal head of the Axe in front of him broke in two, and he passed out.

As Jeramiah hit the ground, a contingent of Aremanthas' King's Guard surrounded the boy.  A black haired girl stepped off the metal contraption she used for transportation, and stepped over to him.  She touched his forehead, and her whole body shook with anticipation.

"Bring me this boy's Parents, and anyone who has trained him."  her velvety, eleven year old, voice rang out.  several of the guards started moving around the village, after a ten minute wait, a woman, and two men were brought before her, and all three immediately kneeled.  Only the woman among the three was surprised at seeing the front gate, a frozen mass.

"What is it you wish of us, Princess Silene?"  said the man who had been yelling at Jeremiah, a few hours before.

"I wish to keep this boy; and as my father has said before, I must ask permission, so I am doing so."  she said.

The woman spoke first.  her eyes still on the mass of red ice directly at the base of the gate.  "you casted this spell, just to save my son, and ask for him?"  she asked confused.

"Lady," she spoke respectfully to the woman, "Your son cast this spell, and saved your village, and myself.  I, my guards, and most of your townsfolk in this gate-square owe him a life-debt.  One I will uphold, and take upon myself all of the debts here, as long as I may take him with me, and train him.  I fear this spell was his awakening."  she replied.

The man who had not spoken remained silent and still, and the woman spoke again.  "Allow me to ask my husband his opinion."  and the princess nodded.

The woman lifted the man's chin to look into her eyes, and began to use her hands to sign to him what had just been discussed.  His eyes were glistening with pride as his wife relayed the events.  He signed yes, and bobbed his head up and down quickly, several times as he took his wife into his arms.

"You may, Princess."  She said through tears.  "Please take care, today is his birthday."

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