Aranée 50: Bellikor's Secret by NetWorthy
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Description
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Bellikor's ancient Elf map was priceless so he asked Jobil's clerics to copy a portion of it for her trip. Aranée now sat with her ever-present Elf guards, comparing it to the original. As they talked, Bellikor heard an odd sound at the door and rose to investigate.
Aranée heard it too and stood as Bellikor opened the door. A man in a dark cloak ran down the hall and Bellikor frantically waved to them, "GET DOWN!" The guards reacted immediately, hauling her to the floor and covering her with their bodies.
Time slowed as Bellikor threw his arms wide and a tremendous fireball bloomed into the doorway. A shock wave and deafening sound roared over them but the fiery wave itself terminated little more than a foot into the room, as if contained within an enormous invisible vessel. Sweat poured from Bellikor as outstretched arms strained before the onslaught. Finally, he brought his hands together and the fire shrank to a small acrid jot of smoke that hung in the air. He wiped his brow and turned to them, "Are you all right?"
The guards helped a shaken Aranée to her feet. "W-what was that?"
Bellikor nodded to the doorway. "A firebomb at the door. We were seconds away from being incinerated."
She nodded and looked at him in wonder. "You stopped it - but how?" He eyed the guards and she added, "They are sworn to secrecy."
He hesitated. "I am... a trueborn mage, a natural adept at magical arts. I had abilities even as a young child. I-I did not fully explore them until my teens though." Normally very direct, he looked at the floor. "I-I stopped practicing shortly thereafter." He paused. "You must never share this with anyone."
She raised a brow. "But... Why did you stop? It is a great gift."
After a moment, he swallowed and closed his eyes. "Like most teen boys I was overconfident and a braggart. But some people were jealous of me... they called me a freak, made terrible cruel fun of my abilities. Angry, I went to the tavern and drank until I passed out." He turned and faced the wall. Quietly, over his shoulder, "I-I awoke in the smoking ruin that had been my village. Everyone... every man, woman and child... my own family... everyone was dead... killed by blind drunken magic rage... my magic... my rage." He turned silently, and looked at her with haunted eyes. "From that moment, I dedicated myself to tightly controlling my accursed 'gift' and acquiring the knowledge necessary to govern my life with intellect... instead of emotion."
Aranée started to speak, stopped, then gently squeezed his arm.
He composed himself and ran fingers over scorched stones. "We have a more urgent concern now." Back to himself again, he regarded her with steady blue eyes.
"Who is brazen enough to kill inside Jobil Castle?"
--- TO BE CONTINUED!
View episodes in sequence for the entire story.
I played and played with this one, trying to get the light just right, but out of frustration I finally had to settle for this. I'm still trying to come up for air which isn't helping. Sorry for not visiting for awhile...
PLEASE leave a comment or suggestions, your words mean a lot to me. Your encouragement truly gives me the energy to carry on...
Image and story © 2010 by Larry Hodge
Comments (32)
Lotus253
Wow Great job! I love fantasy and I like a good story. God job! (5)
mininessie
wonderful scene!!!
njb2000
Lovely action scene and a great POV Nice illustration for the story!
Bossie_Boots
Fantastic scene !!
lyron
Great scene!!
LivingPixels
In every larry very well done my friend!
Cimaira
Wonderful!
neelzonline
Cool story and image
RJS
Excellent work, Larry! Lighting can be challenging in Carrara, so don't be discouraged. This is a wonderful image and installment of Aranée's story. I love how you are complicating the plot with these twists and turns. You are a marvelous story-teller. Keep it up! I can't wait to see how this story works out!
magnus073
Superb job on this exciting scene and the story is cool Larry
Faemike55
Fantastic work, Larry! the story had me tense and then I looked at the image again, WOW! I'd like to know who would want to kill her.
Minda
your work is amazing larry...excellent scene and story..
jandunne
Don't know what I like better, the scene or the story. Aw heck, I love 'em both!
alessimarco
Fabulous action posing and pov! Wonderful illustration for the story!
cece7894
Wonderful Scene!
restif
I have to say this is one of my favorites from you, great action scene!
Savage_dragon
Bravo! ")
1010
Larry, the posing is awesome. Stunning results!
drifterlee
Awesome render and posing!
PhilW
Dramatic image and even more dramatic storytelling - wonderfully done and good to see you progressing the story!
Rainastorm
Your a most excellent writer my friend, excellent work!
jmb007
beau travail!
LBJ2
Great render and composition, Larry. A dramatic scene both for the writing and the image. Fantastic work on both.
momof4rugrats
fantastic work!!!
2Loose2Trek
I love the enthralling writing and artistically realized image. Superb!
brewgirlca
Well written work and a great exploration of Belikor's character, both his strength and weaknesses. The posing is great. I am not sure if you use any version of photoshop or gimp but you might want to check out Adam Wrights Dynamic Actions to help build some vibrancy and shadow depth. They save a huge amount of hassle about rendering perfectly.
romangirl
Nice story and scene! You do a good job rendering yourself!
Osper
Nice story line and illustrations!
rbowen
Very good scene!
myrrhluz
Wonderful character development on Bellikor. I suspect he will have to use all of his skills and intellect to protect Aranée and her unborn child. Perhaps the use of it to save lives will help him a little. I like that Aranée knew there was nothing she could say, and showed her care for his pain in a mute gesture. Superb POV, composition, and poses! There is great action going on and wonderful interaction between the characters! I don't know anything about Carrara, but I like the glow on Bellikor's face and hands and the softer glow on the sword and face of the guard turned towards the door. We are always our own worse critics. I'm sure with your skill and perseverance you will figure out all the ins and outs of lighting in Carrara to your own satisfaction. It looks lovely to me.