Well... I only got one comment so far on chapter one. -- :is depressed: So, maybe if I update chapter 2 more people will read it? Because... I really like this story. And I put a lot of planning into it. So I want people to read it! T-T

Anyway, enough of my banter. An explanation of the Singers and their power and stuff is included in this chapter. Yay! D: So... I hope you like! I love this story alot, and I don't know why. --; Thank you for reading and PLEASE COMMENT.

(( PS: Dreamerdoll... thank you. T-T I appreciate what you said. ))

The Last Singer: Chapter 2 - Singers

The maid found Senti sitting on his balcony when dawn broke, merely staring at the sunset. Instead of bothering him, she put the morning wash items down on the sofa in the corner of the room and exited as quietly as she had come in. The blonde boy watched as the sky turned from its dark black into a blazing mix of oranges and yellows. He had never been able to see the sun rise before, his dank little room always being turned away with the only window too high on the wall to see though.

Once the sun was rather high in the sky, he returned inside his room to get ready. He found the skin around his hands and forehead was still had a cracked look to it, although the cracks were a soft blue. He had absolutely no idea what this was, and decided he would find someone he could trust to talk about it. He snorted at himself, trust? Right…

Either way, he was hoping to see the small children again today. Maybe he could even play with them some. Tormen wasn’t here to find them, so he figured no harm could come from amusing them. He pocketed some more candies before heading out of his room and down the hall. It might be too early for the kids to be out and playing, but he could walk around the town until then. Besides, ideas of escaping were still hidden in the back of his mind but it would take large amounts of studying the area and getting ready before he actually could.

Once he was outside in the fresh air again, he found himself in a rather good mood. He wasn’t sure why, because he definitely needed to be on guard for this to be some sort of trap or trick. He knew that he couldn’t be given all these nice things and freedom so easily. It wasn’t possible.

As he entered the streets of the small town, he found himself greeted with the conversations of early morning risers and the smells of breakfast. He stopped at a small bakery, lured in by the sweet smells of the breakfast rolls. He entered the small shop, hoping that he wouldn’t be made to leave or ignored or something like that. No one was in the shop yet or manning the counter, so he merely viewed over the many selections that there were behind the counter and in the windows. Everything looked rather delicious.

The customer door opened as a somewhat older lady walked in followed by a middle-aged woman. The two ladies seemed not to notice him in the corner of the store. “As I was saying,” the older one continued from something she had said earlier, “Telma said that she saw him in the streets yesterday actually playing with the children! She ran right over and got Jate and Maky away from him. To think…”

“Well maybe he’s just lonely ma,” the younger woman argued. “I mean, no one knows why he’s been sent out here. He doesn’t look like he would hurt anyone.”

“The man kills armies with his bare voice!” the older woman cried. “Oh, where is Bartim? I need some rolls for dinner tonight and I know if I don’t get them now I won’t be able to later.”

Senti thought about heading towards the door and leaving when the younger once again spoke up, “Vita came home telling me that she wanted to play with him today. I told her it was ok as long as they stayed near the town, and Matriv is going to be with them.”

The grandmother glared at her with a look that would scare almost anyone; “You did not!”

“Yes I did,” the young one replied huffily. “Ah, Bartim there you are. I need some flour and I haven’t decided on what rolls I would like today.”

“Very good,” the old man who had appeared from the back room smiled jovially. Once he had gotten a small bag of white powder together and handed it to the lady, he noticed Senti standing silently near the back corner. “Is there anything I can help you with sir?” he asked, squinting to get a better look at the unfamiliar lad.

Senti watched the two women turn to look back at him, their eyes growing larger in surprise. Senti pretended he didn’t notice as he walked up to the counter. “Uhm, I think I would like to try a breakfast roll,” he said quietly.

“Ah very good,” the man apparently couldn’t see well enough to figure out who he was. “Would you like the one with sausage or ham?”

“Uhm…” Senti realized he wasn’t exactly sure about the difference. He had eaten the meat he had been given throughout his life, but no one had ever explained to him the different types. He felt rather stupid.

“I’ve got some coming out of the oven with both if you’d like,” the old man offered.

“Th-that would be good,” Senti replied softly.

“I think I would like five yeast rolls as well Bartim,” the young woman said. When the older man disappeared into the back to retrieve the items the woman turned to Senti and held out a hand, “Hello, I’m Icary.”

Senti stared at the offered hand, putting his out unsurely. What was he supposed to do? When Icary took his hand and moved it up and down she smiled, “What’s your name, Singer?”

“That’s… all anyone has ever called me,” he said quietly.

“Ok, but…”

“Five yeast rolls for the young lady and a double breakfast roll for the young lad!” cried Bartim happily as he made his way back into the room. Senti took his roll and offered the man a small coin in return. “To be honest dear boy, I can’t recognize you for the life of me which is a dreadful fact since I know everyone in this town. Take the roll as my apology.”

“But…”

“Once Bartim has said he won’t take payment, trust me, he won’t take payment,” the younger woman laughed as she headed to the door. “You’d just waste your breath.” Senti ran over and held the door open for the two women as they went to exit. Icary offered thanks, while the older woman merely sniffed her nose into the air.

“Thank you,” Senti said to the man before leaving. Once back out on the street, Senti found a bench to sit on to finish his roll. It was quite good, filled with two different meats and cheese. When he was done he noticed the little girl with pigtails running happily towards him, her ragged doll waving through he air.

“Seenguh! Seenguh!” she cried, stopping in front of him. “Mama says I can pway wiff joo! Joo seeng uh song today?”

“Yeah, I’ll sing a song,” Senti smiled.

“We goes and get Matweev,” she yelled happily, grabbing his hand and tugging him down the street. They were soon joined by a few of the other children from the day before, more specifically the youngest boy who was still sucking his thumb and the twins. Senti was soon led by the happy and laughing children to an area that was more residential than the town they had been in. Many homes were attached to some kind of small animal farm or plant farm. They approached one house near the end of the long row that had a big barn type building behind it.

The pigtailed girl dragged Senti to the door and knocked on it. After a while Senti wondered if anyone was even home, but a young woman that looked in her mid twenties answered the door. “Hello? Oh! Vita, what are you doing here so early?”

“We’s come to get Matweev, Miss Cholee,” the pigtailed girl answered. “To pway.”

The young lady laughed happily until she noticed Senti. “And who is this?”

“This uh seenguh!” Vita answered happily. “He gonna pway wiff us too.”

The lady named Cholee seemed about to say something but was interrupted when a taller figure appeared behind her. The man from the jewelry store the day before grinned happily when he saw the kids and waved to Senti. “Matriv, you know this guy?” she asked. The boy nodded. “Well, watch the children and be home for dinner.” Matriv hugged the girl and left the house as Vita took his hand as well.

“Yay! Pwaying! Pwaying!” Vita sung happily as they headed off to a field behind the town.

“Vita be quiet,” the oldest boy from the day before said as he, his sister, and the last boy walked up. “We’re only coming to make sure the younger ones are ok,” he said with a challenging glare at Senti.

Senti laughed as they made their way to the small field with a pond. Senti was entranced by the colorful fish and flowers that littered the pond, staring at them from his seat on the soft grass. It was just like the scenes he had imagined, only better.

Never seen fish before? Matriv thought at him amusedly.

No, Senti answered matter-of-factly. Matriv looked slightly shocked.

“Seenguh! Seeng uh song!” Vita pleaded with large brown eyes, plopping down in Senti’s lap. Senti froze for a moment, not sure what to do. This kid was awfully friendly. “Joo pwomised!” she accused.

“Well, would you guys like to see a story instead?” Senti asked. The kids all gave him a hint of attention at the offer.

“We can’t see uh stowy seenguh,” Vita said with huff.

“You can… if you believe in magic,” Senti whispered as if telling a secret.

“Magic?” Vita’s eyes grew three sizes.

“Everyone knows the Ver Montelis killed most of the inherent magics,” the oldest boy, Jate, said annoyed.

“Most,” Senti agreed, moving Vita so he could get the blood to run back to his leg. All the kids and Matriv were looking at him interestedly. “But you have to promise not to get scared. You have to trust me.”

“Yeah yeah!” Vita looked excited. Most of the kids nodded their heads.

Senti smiled as he began to hum as he twisted his fingers, wavering shades and peaks of light streaming through the air from his hands. Instead of changing the scenery around them completely, he only put up a small square of air to look like a different place. Like when a seer gazes into water. All the children gazed at the patch of air that now held a picture.

Senti didn’t know many stories, but when he wasn’t dreaming of death and destruction he would dream of the past. People whom no longer existed, places that had been lost over time, things that were now mere legends. He picked one of his favorite dreams and narrated as his voice caused the image to change as people came into the picture and moved along to his story. The kids were completely enraptured. After what seemed like a long time, he finished the story.

That was incredible, he heard Matriv think.

“Wow seenguh! Wow!” Vita yelled from her spot in his lap. “Joos amazing!”

It’s getting late, we should either head back to town or to my house, Matriv informed him.

“I think we should head back now,” Senti said with a smile. All the children stood and began to head back to their prospective homes. Vita was sleepy and began to fall behind so Senti picked her up to carry her. She fell asleep over his shoulder.

All the kids, even Jate, left with an expression of thanks for the story as they headed back to their homes. Matriv took Senti who carried the sleeping Vita to her home. They knocked on the door, the younger woman from the bakery that morning opening it. “Hello Matriv and hello Singer!”

“Vita… she fell asleep when we were telling her a story,” Senti said softly.

“Oh, she usually does,” Icary laughed as she took her sleeping daughter. The older woman appeared behind Icary. When she saw the sleeping child she practically screamed.

“What have you done to my granddaughter!”

“Mother!” Icary yelled. “You’ll wake Vita.”

“You dirty bastard!” the old woman pointed at Senti. “What curse did you put on this innocent child?!”

“I-I … I didn’t…”

“Wuz wrong?” Vita muttered, rubbing her sleepy eyes from her mother’s arms.

“Look what you did Mother!” Icary accused. “Apologize to the Singer!”

“I will not apologize to such an abomination!” the old woman cried. “He can strike me down where I stand, but I will not apologize!”

“Grama! Joo no be mean to Seenguh!” Vita cried sleepily.

“You are not to see this man any more!” the old woman yelled at the child.

“But he’s my fwend!”

“Not anymore he’s not!” the old woman disappeared back into the house. “Get in this house!”

“Singer,” Icary pleaded, “I’m so sorry, she didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine,” Senti said quietly, a sad look covering his face. “Thank you.”

“Bye bye Seenguh! See joo tomowow,” Vita waved as Icary shut the door.

Come on, Matriv thought kindly. Old lady Been is always like that, don’t let it get to you. She hates me too. Senti didn’t answer. Well, you can come home with me. Matriv began walking back to the house they had been to earlier in the day.

They entered the home and Senti took a seat that Matriv offered at the table. He left and then returned with Cholee in tow. “Welcome back Singer!” she said happily.

“Uh… thank you.”

“My husband Denz will be home soon, and then we’ll have dinner. Would you care to join us?”

You should, Matriv told him as he sat. Cholee’s cooking is the best.

“I don’t want to intrude…”

“Nonsense!” Cholee chimed happily. “Matriv says you’re a nice guy, and that makes you a new friend. You’re more than welcome to eat with us anytime! Besides, I made a little too much today anyway.”

Cholee returned to her cooking, adding some final touches when the door opened to allow a tall and well-built man to enter. His skin was tanned from working in the sun, his hair a dusty blonde brunette combination. He kissed Cholee on the cheek and began to walk around putting various things he carried down in their spots. It was a few minutes before he noticed Senti, “Ah, who’s this?”

Matriv made an odd swiveling motion with his hand as Cholee answered, “He’s Matriv’s new friend. He’s staying at the Hold with Lord Montelis.”

“At the Hold…” Denz’s face changed as soon as he put two and two together. “Oh, well welcome to our home Singer.”

“Thank you,” Senti said softly.

“Time for dinner!” Cholee chimed as she began to hand out bowls of beef soup along with rolls and some potatoes on a small plate for everyone. Senti took his gratefully, it smelled wonderful. They began to eat in silence. It was a few minutes before Cholee asked, “So what brings you here Singer?”

“Cholee…” Denz started.

“It’s fine,” Senti smiled, glad to have a reason to quell the silence. “The Ver Montelis sent me here for a bit of… rejuvenation I suppose you could call it.”

“Oooh…” Cholee had an interested look on her face. “Do you always affect people when you talk like that?”

“Cholee!” Denz choked on his potatoes. A soft huffing song betrayed Matriv’s amusement at the situation.

“Yes,” Senti answered with a smile. He found the situation amusing as well. “I can’t help it, it’s inherent.”

“Oooh…” Cholee took a bite of beef from her soup before asking another question. “So you’re really powerful then?”

“Cholee please,” Denz pleaded but stopped when Senti laughed.

“It’s fine. No one has ever really… taken an interest before. I don’t mind explaining it.”

“Oooh that sounds interesting,” Cholee took another bite. Denz sighed, defeated.

“Well, there were five different aspects of the Singers back when they were… were more numerous. There were five clans, each that held one of the aspects. The two weakest, in terms of power, were the Fortunes and Threaders.”

The Fortunes were basically fortunetellers. They could see things in either the past or future, and could show people by singing a certain tune. Although, most of the things they could see or predict would come in some kind of musical dream. It’s hard to explain.”

“Kind of like the traveling musicians?” Cholee asked, her food forgotten as she listened. Matriv’s interest was solely upon Senti now as well.

“I… don’t know what those are,” Senti admitted.

“That’s ok, keep going,” Cholee pleaded. Matriv nodded in agreement.

“The Threaders were people who could manipulate sight with sound. For instance, they could create false scenery to hide something or tell a story and make moving images. They were called Threaders because the light looks like the threads of a blanket moving to create a new image.”

“Amazing,” Cholee breathed. “It’s like stuff out of legend.”

“It is,” Senti said quietly. He continued when no one said anything, “The third part was the Summoners. Their power is hard to explain. One example would be, if there were a dead flower they could summon life back into that flower; but they couldn’t summon the life back into a dead human because their life is attached to a soul. Another example would be that they could summon the representation to say… a lake or a mountain. When they summoned these entities, they could request their help in battle or just ask for safe passage or something like that.”

“So they kind of… communicate with nature in a way?” Cholee asked.

“Pretty much,” Senti agreed.

“This is somewhat complicated,” Cholee said as she picked at her roll. “But go on anyway, it’s interesting.”

“Well, the last two were the most powerful: the Submission and the Destruction. The Destruction was revered as the stronger of the two.” Senti’s voice got quieter as he talked about these. “Submissions could basically enter into a person’s consciousness and force them to do whatever they wanted. The more powerful ones could even convince people to believe them by merely speaking. It’s similar to what you asked about my voice.”

The Destruction on the other hand… is exactly what its name means. They would recite runic songs, or create their own to bring the very personification of Ruin into existence and fight. Like they could make inanimate objects into horrid monsters that fought in wars. The earth could even swallow men and bury them on its own.” Senti’s face was somewhat pale.

“That’s….” Cholee started.

“Horrible,” Senti finished for her. “It’s horrible.”

“So you’re a Submission Singer?” Denz asked, interested despite himself.

“No,” Senti stared at his soup. “The interesting thing about the Singer power was that each aspect balanced each other out. They made a complete circle of power, all interconnected. It was that people born with even two of these aspects were extremely rare, because one person couldn’t hold a full circle.”

“Why?” Cholee asked blatantly.

“I’m not exactly sure, but I think it was just… too much power. One aspect of it is enough, and since they’re all connected to each other, to have every type would be like… having your entire being partly nonexistent simply because its been replaced or absorbed by the power. A person with all five wasn’t supposed to exist.”

But the Singers… they were a peaceful people. The Destruction were feared for their might, but in reality they only used it to protect themselves- same for the Submissions. There were very few who strayed and went off to use their power for… less than self protection.”

“That’s amazing,” Cholee picked at her biscuit again. “So… you’re the last one they say?”

“Yes,” Senti’s face was blank. “The Ver Montelis interbred the Singers to try and create someone with the whole circle, killing them all in the process. I’m what’s left. I’m their whole circle.”

“You have all five?” Denz looked somewhat scared.

“Well, I sealed off the Destruction when I was child. It… frightened me. Thank you for dinner,” he suddenly rose, his food left half-unfinished. He could hear the fear that had bred in Cholee and Denz’s minds at the admittance. “Please have a good day,” he bowed and let himself out of the house.

The sun was now getting close to setting as Senti made his way down the dirt road. He wondered why he had actually gone as far to explain that to them. Now they would probably tell the whole town and it would be even harder for him to show his face. The oddest thing was he wasn’t sure how he knew all that. There was a vague memory of a woman telling him the story of the Singers, but it was faint. He probably had dreamt it once. A memory of the past.

HEY!

Senti turned to see Matriv run up to him. The taller boy had to catch his breath before looking at him. Why did you leave?

“Your family was getting nervous,” Senti said.

They’re fine now. You could come back.

“No. I don’t,” Senti continued walking. Matriv walked next to him.

I think… you just need a friend.

“What?”

A friend! Come with me, I’ll show you something cool.

Senti gave in with a sigh. It was true he didn’t want to go back to the Hold and be alone, so instead he followed Matriv as night fell. It was hard walking around outside in the dark, especially because Senti really disliked the dark. He stumbled into Matriv when the boy stopped without warning. He looked around his tall frame to find the pond they had been at earlier that day.

“Why are we back at the pond?”

Shh! Matriv sat in the grass.

Senti sighed and sat next to him. Once the sun was fully gone and the moon was gleaming brightly, Senti could see a reflection in water beneath him. The moon’s image shone there as well. A small green light suddenly appeared as it skimmed over the water’s surface. “What’s that?” he asked.

Fireflies. They come out this time of year at night. I think there’s a nest around here, because there’s usually a lot of them.

Sure enough, more and more little green-yellow floating dots appeared as they drifted through the air. One flew close to Senti and landed in his hair but then flew away. “This is…”

Amazing, right?

“Yes.” Senti felt a tug at the back of his mind. He allowed his mental ear to wander until he found the voice. He couldn’t help from smiling as he looked at Matriv from the corner of his eye. “The pond says thank you.”

What?

“The pond, its summons told me to tell you thank you. It says you come here a lot and have taken care of it and its fireflies.”

Oh… well… I don’t mind. It’s fun.

“Would you like to meet it?”

Meet?

“Yeah.”

I suppose… Matriv sounded somewhat confused.

Senti spoke to the voice, getting its agreement first. He began to hum a small tune, just enough to Summon the small entity of the pond. A drop of water separated itself from the top of the pond, soon followed by many more. A bubble of water the size of a marble began to move over in front of Matriv’s face. It slowly took on a similar shape to a human body, but at the same time not, and hugged his nose. Then it quickly returned to its watery home.

That was…

“Amazing?”

Yes! Singer… you’re amazing!

“No,” Senti disagreed with a sigh. Quite the opposite, he thought to himself.

I know you think your power is horrible, and I’ve heard the stories of things you’ve done. But to be honest, although I’ve known you a day, I can’t see you doing those things. I think you and your power are amazing.

Senti wasn’t sure how to reply, so he didn’t. Instead he asked, “So, why are your thoughts so much more organized than most people? And why can I talk to you like that?”

I’m deaf, was the blunt answer. And mute. I haven’t been able to hear or speak since I can remember, so I’ve only had my thoughts to keep me company. And I can lip read perfectly, so understanding people isn’t much of a problem. And you I can actually… well I can’t say ‘hear’, but I can receive your train of thought when you speak.

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Senti felt bad for asking.

Don’t be sorry, I’ve learned to live with it. Well, I guess it’s getting late. Do you need me to help you back to the Hold?

“I think I can get myself there,” Senti said as they both stood. “Thank you though. I… I appreciate it.”

Wait, what’s your name?

“What?”

Well your name’s not Singer I’d imagine. What’s your name?

“It’s… Senti. It’s the name my mother left me.”

Senti. Nice name, has a mysterious ring to it to match your personality.

“Uh… thank you?”

See you tomorrow Senti! Matriv smiled and headed in the opposite direction as Senti headed back to the Hold. His thoughts were filled with various things on his walk back. The only reason Matriv thought he was ‘amazing’ or even bothered with him was because he hadn’t seen the things he had done. He hadn’t seen Senti kill men in cold blood, not even blinking an eye. He hadn’t seen him destroy an entire army by merely speaking.

For some reason, the Dead Language began to flow through his mind, making him think of the Destruction songs. Only Destruction and Submission required the use of the Dead Language, because they required delving into the subconscious, while the other three could be used with normal speech because they dealt with the present mind-frame and sight. Senti tried to focus on remembering the fireflies to ignore the memories.

When he re-entered the Hold, the dark clad man was waiting at the main doors. “Where have you been Singer?”

“I was invited to dinner at a family’s house to show their hospitality for the village,” Senti answered dully. “Why?”

“You need not be out so late,” the man said with a frown.

“What does it matter? We both know I can’t leave the town with the orihalcon string you have magicked around the area.” Senti had figured out why he had had that pain his first day crossing the boundary of the city. Tormen was making sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Your cheek is uncalled for, and rather annoying,” the man challenged, his frown growing deeper.

“So is your impudence,” Senti continued walking, wanting to get to his room and rest. He wasn’t sure why he felt so empowered all of a sudden.

The man humphed and disappeared. Senti made it into his room and sat at the dresser to take off the bandages around his forehead and hands. The crack lines that covered his skin were an even brighter blue now. This probably isn’t good, he thought. But he didn’t know whom he could go to to ask for help. Maybe Matriv would know a doctor in the town…

Senti decided not to worry about it when the blue of the cracks lessened. He changed into some of the more comfortable nightclothes he had, curled up in his big bed, and went to sleep.

--

“No your highness,” the darkly clad man spoke into the fire before him. “He has returned. He knew of the orihalcon circle placed around the area.”

“Of course he does,” came Tormen’s voice from the fire. “The little bastard knows everything. Just keep watching him. Put some men on him, I want a full detailed report. You can probably use something or someone that he knows in the town.”

“But sir they are innocent citizens…”

“Do you think I care? Do your job by me, or I’ll have your throat,” Tormen threatened. “I want a full report, especially if anything interesting happens.”

“Yes your highness,” the man bowed as the fire snuffed itself out. Working for men in power was always a hassel…