Quire

Quire - Chapter 1

WARNING:

This is a story of friendship, commitment, love and trust. It is not a sex story. However, this story deals with love between male teenagers. If you are offended by stories involving love between two teenage boys, please do not read this story. There may be some sex scenes in this story; however, sex is not the main theme. If you are under age 18 or 21 or it is illegal to read this story where you live, don't read it. Reproducing this story for distribution without the owner's permission is a violation of that copyright.

Author's Message: _This is the original story. I wrote it for a 15 year-old gay teen for his 16th birthday. This was chapter 1 and I never wrote any more as there never seemed to be much interest at the time and as his response wasn't that great. Generally the more response I get the more I write...if there is not emough response then I will probably let this lay around and go write something else or continue my other story in the HighSchool section called Dolphin Boy.
.
_I know some people are shy about writing but I would really like to know how many people read this story and like it and or my other writings, so I have set up a web page a www.dragons-master.com It is a simple form where you check some boxes and that's all there are no cookies set or personal data which you have to fill in - It's just a way of me finding out if my stories are read and if they are liked.

Oh yeah, I've be asked how Quire's name is pronounced - it's pronounced like choir.

Sam (sam_lakes@hotmail.com)

**Quire - The Beginning
as told by his best friend Wick
**

West of the Subadorian village Sarnotha, on the planet on Quadrion-4, in the center of the dirt crossroads and protruding out of the ground is a large flat rock. On top of the flat rock with his knees tucked under his chin sat a boy. There was no traffic on the road, no people, no carts, nothing! He was alone. One road led back to the village, where he was forbidden to return. The east and south roads went somewhere he wasn't sure, the north road towards the Forbidden Forest.

He wasn't scared; he was sad, but not scared. He had never been scared. He had never experienced fear. Perhaps that was it. Other Subadorian boys experienced fear; he remembered pretending to be frightened so that he could fit in. His body was changing, he was reaching adolescence, albeit two years later than most Subadorians. Now things were different, he could no longer hide certain things, mainly his emotions, they showed. When he was cheerful and happy, his hair reflected this by being straight and jet black and his eyes would be deep emerald; when angered his hair would change to a wild look and bright red hair, not with an orange or yellow tinge, glaringly red! His eyes would become bright yellow with cat-like pupils; exhilaration brought about golden hair and bright emerald green eyes that sparkled with enthusiasm. Right now his hair is a dingy light blue and his eyes are gray for right now he is sad. He was different and did not conform to others expectations.

Until recently, before adolescence set in, he had been the top of his class, top in academics and top in sports. He had had tons of friends, but now none, not one! He was too different or in the language of his people, he was quire! Some had thought it was some sort of disease, others thought he was an evil being, not as God intended! Even his own parents were force to abandon him.

In his whole life he had never seen his father cry. Today that happened. He played the scene over in his mind.

"Elron, the high council has decreed that I-I must take your name back. Y-You may never used it again, from this day forward you are not…you are not Elron son (he cried) son of Petron. You are too quire, and so you must leave us" he cried as he gave his son a final hug. Quietly he whispered, "I love you, my son, they will never take my love for you, remember that always. I love you. Someday, it will change and they will have to honor you. I love you!"

“Father!” he sobbed as any young person would when ripped away from those he knew best and whom he loved with all his hearts, as the Lord Chancellor of the village pulled him from his father’s arms, “I love you! I will never forget!”

Those were the last word they were allowed to exchange before he was escorted out of the village and told never to return.

His only crime was he was different. He wasn’t bad or evil. He was just different, unlike the ‘norm’ whatever that was.

The pain and humiliation of being different was almost too much to bear for such a young boy; his body shook and trembled with tears of sadness flowing from his eyes as he sat alone on the rock. Only sleep brought comfort.

As the sun of a new day rose in the sky the boy woke to find someone had placed a knapsack beside him full of food. It must have been his mother.

“Mother!” he cried, “Mama, Please answer me! Where are you? I need you!” But there was no response. The only sound was the call of a bird far away in the sky. He began to cry again. As he cried a vague, a long forgotten memory, kept trying to surface. It began to interrupt his crying until finally he stopped crying and allowed the memory to surface.

"Great grandfather?" he whispered to himself. Yes it was, the memory had surfaced! He remembered his great grandfather. He began to recall the memory; he must have only been four years old at the time.

"You went into the Forest, Elron?" asked his great grandfather.

"Yes sir. She was so beautiful, Great-Grandfather, a light-pink colored horse with a horn, right here!" he said eagerly and pointing to his forehead.

"Ah! A unicorn! So they do exists!" said Great-Grandfather quietly. He smiled at his young great grandson, "And did she say anything to you?"

"Oh, yes! She said it was too early and I must go back and to remember to humble myself when I return, but not to come back for a long time when the hare chases."

"You are a very special child, Elron. Let me tell you of a story that my great grandfather told me; his great grandfather told him and so on since the beginning. A story passed on from only great grandfathers to their first great grandson. I have never told this story to anyone, but you. It is a story that you must remember and keep secret until you have a great grandson."

Elron had never returned to the Forbidden Forest. It was one of the places he had pretended to be afraid of the most.

He remembered the story of the seven crystals and that they had to be found and returned to the Cave of Darkness. He remembered how special he felt to have a Great-Grandfather. Markham, his brother had never known his great grandfather for he wasn't born until after the death of Great Grandfather.

Such fond memories, his hair was shiny jet black and his eyes emerald green. His hair was changing to gold! He looked at his hair and thought to himself "when the hare chases? Or was it when the hair changes! Yes! It's when the hair changes! I'm supposed to go back to the Forest of Garthon!"

Excitedly, his hair a beautiful soft gold he jumped to his feet.

"I AM SPECIAL! I AM DIFFERENT! I AM QUIRE! FROM THIS DAY FORWARD I SHALL BE KNOWN AS QUIRE!" he proclaimed while standing on top of the flat rock.

Of course no one heard him, but that didn't matter. Quire jumped from the rock, picked up his knapsack.

"Let's go Great-Grandfather! Let's go find the crystals!" said an excited Quire as he headed for the Forbidden Forrest, the forest of Lost Souls, the Forest of Garthon!

* * * *

Quire walked many, many miles to find an entrance to the forest. From a distance the forest didn't look so bad, a blend of multi-colored vegetation. As he neared the forest he could see the giant Mongor trees stretching hundreds of feet into the air. Standing ahead of them was a mire of other trees so thick and green. There was a hedge of bushes at least twenty feet high like a huge wall and so thick a mouse creature couldn't get through. Every few feet you could see brightly colored blossoms hanging from the hedge.

"Beautiful, but deadly!" thought Quire as he watch a hummingbird getting eaten alive. Quire kept his distance as he walked parallel to the forest hedge looking for an entrance. He'd seen a vine whip out and grab an unsuspecting rabbit and pull it back into the hedge.

He had walked all day with only a short break for food and a drink from a clear pond here and there along the way. Night was approaching and he had to find a safe place to sleep. Far ahead he saw an outcrop of rocks. He would sleep on top of the rocks. It was nearly dark when he arrived at the rocks. Climbing to the top he found a somewhat comfortable place to lie down. Opening his knapsack he took out a mealbread, he had three left; he leaned back against the rock taking two bites of the mealbread before falling fast asleep.

The next morning the sun woke him as it peered above the horizon. His mealbread was still only partially eaten. Quire stood and stretched and yawned noisily. Slowly, looking over to the forest he saw it! The entrance! But then it seemed to vanish and five or ten minutes later reappeared.

Quire sat on the ground looking at the path leading into the Forbidden Forest with his dulled gray eyes and his hair a dingy blue. Slowly his left hand wrapped around a throwing stone, which had been lying innocently on the ground. As he got up from his sitting position his hair changed from dingy blue to red. He squinted his now yellow eyes looking like a fierce cat creature ready to pounce as he threw the stone as hard as he could into the forest.

There was no response, no yelp, no ouch, nothing, but silence and a few rustling leaves.

“I am Quire and I have no fear of you! I know that you are there! I saw you years ago when I was small. You put a curse on me! You made me different - you made me like this! Can’t you see! My hair! My eyes! What did I ever do to you? I hate you!” He angrily screamed at the forest.

Still silence as the wind ruffled his flaming red hair, which was now diminishing in intensity.

“I’m back. Like you said when the hair changes! Why? Why did you curse me? Why didn’t you just kill me? It would have been better! I have lost all my friends, even my parents because now I am different and everybody hates me! They loath me because I am too different!” Quire’s hair was again dingy blue and his eyes dull gray with tears overflowing on to his cheeks. “I never meant you any harm! You were so beautiful! I just wanted to be your friend. I loved you!”

The only sound was the west wind gently playing with the treetops, tickling their leaves. Quire turned his back to the forest and began to walk away.

Whoomp! The throwing stone hit him in the back.

“Ow!” yelled Quire as his hair quickly changed to red and he spun around to see who was there.

Nobody. Nothing.

His bright yellow eyes narrowed as he looked into the bushes trying to see even the slightest movement. With his eyes fixed on the bushes he slowly bent over and picked up the throwing stone. He thought he saw some movement behind the bush. Quickly he aimed and threw the stone again into the forest.

Whack! A tree branch swung and hit the rock.

“Huh?” Quire uttered as his eyes followed the rock while it sailed high over his head and landed on the ground at least fifty feet behind him!

“Right! I know you’re there! You forget! I’m not afraid. I have no fear!” he said as he ran to the path his hair now bright red.

“Whoomp!” A vine swung down and hit him in the head as he stepped onto the path knocking him on his back.

Quire was stunned, but not hurt. In fact not even a slight pain from such a whack on the head. As he stared up into the sky he remembered what she had told him.

“She said I was too early. I must go back and to remember to humble myself when I returned," he mumbled to himself. As he lay there thinking about what she had said he began to relax. He rolled over and shifted his body over into a crawling position. His jet-black hair was straight and had almost a shine to it, his eyes emerald green looked forward as he began to crawl on his hands and knees along the path.

As he crawled along faster he kept looking back to check on the foliage's progress. It was catching up! The faster he went the faster it seemed to grow towards him. He tried pushing himself harder and faster, but it was no use! He could feel the vines trying to grab at his feet! He glanced back and the next thing he knew he was falling. The ground had given away to a deep dark hole.

"Aaaaayyy!"

"Gotcha!" said the voice as he felt a vine wrap tightly around one leg.

There he was upside down gently swinging back and forth in the darkness with a vine wrapped around his left leg.

"Well, I guess you got a leg up on me," laughed the voice.

"Who are you?" asked Quire.

"No, no, no, I saved you. I get to ask the questions," said the voice, "Who are you?"

"I am Quire"

"Well, that's different!"

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

"I am different."

"I thought you said you were Quire."

"I am Quire!"

"Well, that's different!"

"Yes!"

"Yes, what?"

"I am different. Different is Quire; it means the same. It's my new name"

"Yes, I know. Quire means the same as different. I'm not stupid! At least I don't go falling down bottomless pits!"

"I didn't say you were stupid."

"Well, you implied it!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did!"

Quire sighed. He was getting tired of hanging upside down.

"Please just pull me up!"

"Garthon doesn't take orders!"

"Okay. I beg you please be so nice as to pull me up."

"Garthon doesn't like beggars, either!"

"What do you like?"

"Ah-ah, Garthon asks the questions! Why do you have a new name?"

"Because…because I am too different. I am too quire," Quire answered with deep sadness in his voice.

"Too quire? How so?"

"My hair and eyes keep changing color."

"You are Subadorian?"

"Yes," Quire said ashamedly.

"Why didn't you say so?"

In a split second the vine whip Quire up and out of the pit as another couple of vines wrapped around him and gently lowered him to the ground on the other side of the bottomless pit.

"Where are you?"

"All around you."

"All that's around me are vines."

"You got it!"

"The Forest of Garthon! You are Garthon!"

"At your service, my liege."

“There is something I don’t understand,” said Quire.

“Yes? What would that be?”

“Why did my being a Subadorian change your attitude towards me? An what was it that made you ask if I was Subadorian?”

“I must protect any Subadorian which enters, and, of course, any child creature. As too the other question, all Subadorians, show their emotions in their hair and eyes by changing colors. ”

“No they don’t. Except for me, I’m different, not normal,” said Quire.

“No! You are normal the others are different!”

“Well, we are not the same.”

“And is that bad?”

“It is when nobody likes you.”

“Well, I like you! You remind me of someone, who reminds me of someone else very special.”

“Who?”

A leaf sprouted from a vine close to Quire's head. It moved over and gently rubbed against Quire's face. The aroma was slightly sweet and pleasant.

"Ah-ha! I thought it might be you!" said Garthon, "You were here before with your great grandfather."

"Yes, he told me of the lost crystals and that they had to be returned to the Cave of Darkness."

"Interesting…hmmm," said Garthon.

"What?"

"The crystals are not lost. They are in the temple. All caves here are dark. You will just have to
figure out which of the six hundred and eighty-four caves is the one you seek."

"Oh. How do I get to the temple?" asked Quire.

"Want the fastest way?"

"Sure"

"Not scared of heights are you?"

"No. No fears!" replied Quire.

"Good. Then it's the Vine Express!"

"Huh?"

In an instant a vine had Quire by the arm and propelled him high into the air and released him; another vine grabbed him and swung him to the next vine. It really caught him by surprise, but after the initial shock and realization that Garthon would not harm him he relaxed and started enjoying the ride; traveling across the forest giggling and laughing his golden hair reflecting the rays of light in supreme happiness and joy.

The ride was over far to quickly for Quire as the vine lowered him to the ground in front of the temple, if that's what you want to call it. It was a bunch of weather worn rocks holding up two dilapidated doors. Carved into the doors was a message:

IN YOUR HASTE CONTROL THE GREED
A RUN ACROSS WILL SURELY IMPEDE

FOR IN TANGLED WEBS YOU WILL GET CAUGHT
A TASTY MORSEL IS NOT HER WANT

DON’T LAUGH OR BOO OR JIGGLE AND JEER
JUST SHOW HER RESPECT AND SHOW HER NO FEAR!

SO INTO THE TUNNELS AGAINST THE WIND
YOU WILL NEVER REACH THE BEGINNING OR END

WHEN ALL SEEMS LOST JUST LEARN TO OBSERVE
YOU WILL FIND THE WIND WILL WANT TO SERVE

TO FIND THE CRYSTALS DON'T USE YOU EYES
LET YOUR HEARTS MAKE THE CHOICE THEY NEVER LIE.

TRUST ITS LIGHT WHATEVER IT MAY SHOW
IT IS THE PLACE WHERE YOU HAVE TO GO.

Quire read the message out loud. He swallowed heavily.

"The crystals are in there. This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

"Well, uhmm, I should warn you others have tried it and they never returned," said Garthon.

"How many others?" Quire all but mumbled.

"Quite a few over the centuries, I-uh, never kept exact count. A few thousand I guess."

"It doesn't really matter, does it? I either make it or I die."

"Uh, yes OR I could take you back. You know back to the entrance, no problem! Hey! How about it! Lots of fun getting here, right? Yeah, it was for me. I don't think I've had more fun in a gazillion centuries! Not many Subadorians come here. So come on let's go!"

The vine reached down to pick up Quire.

"No, Garthon. I can't go back. I'm an outcast. I'm too quire. Well, I am Quire! I may be different, but maybe that's what it takes to find the crystals. I mean great grandfather said that it was important for the crystals to be returned to the cave! I don’t remember why, but if it was important to my great grandfather, then it’s important to me! Thanks for everything, Garthon, you are a beautiful forest!" Quire said as he turned towards the doors to the temple.

"Quire, hold up a second!" said Garthon as a vine suddenly sprouted fresh ripe fruits and leaves.

"Here, take these, you might get hungry."

As he put the abundance of food into his knapsack he giggled.

"What's so amusing?" asked Garthon.

"Nothing, really, it's sort of funny. I guess I really am different! My best friend is a forest!"

Garthon watched as Quire laughed and giggled to himself all the way to the doors. He looked so small compared to the doors as he easily slid through the gap between them.

There was silence.

* * * *

Quire was surprised at the fact that the temple was so well lighted. He couldn’t detect where the light source was coming from. The inside of the temple was a simply a bare room, no windows, a bare floor and walls of stone, but the ceiling was pitch black and seemed to go on forever. At the far end of the room was a stone altar. Placed in a neat row upon the altar were seven crystals.

“They can’t be the ones. This is too easy!” thought Quire. He remembered the first part of the message.

He’d try walking across slowly. Step by step he neared the crystals with no mishaps. When he reached the altar he gently picked up one of the crystals. It was heavy about 10 pounds. Quire emptied the food out of his knapsack and placed the crystal carefully inside it. After he placed the seventh crystal in the bag. He tried to lift the knapsack to put it on his back, but it was almost as heavy as he. He decided to drag the bag. When he was half way he looked back. Knowing that he’d probably be hungry soon, he left the bag and returned to the altar to retrieve some of the food Garthon had given him. He opened his shirt and place most of the fruit Garthon had given him inside then buttoned up his shirt. Picked up the last remaining piece of fruit and took a bite.

It was delicious!

He walked back to his knapsack, took one step and dragged the knapsack. He felt a vibration and the part of floor he was standing on gave way, the knapsack fell from his grasp and he was free falling, but not in total darkness. He watched as the hole he fell through got smaller and smaller after a few moments he landed on something soft, spongy and slightly sticky, it looked like a huge spider-like web and he was right in the center. Just to his left was his knapsack. It was empty!

“Dang!” he yelled as his hair changed to bright red and his eyes went bright yellow, “I’ve lost the crystals!”

"Not to worry" came a voice.

With a little difficulty Quire managed to unstick his back and arms from the net and sit up so he could see who was talking. His hair returned to normal.

“Oh, dear,” she said, “you’re Subadorian.” Quire thought she sounded disappointed.

“Yes.” His hair changed to a drab blue.

“Why are you sad, dear?” she asked as she came closer.

“Because…because I’ve lost the crystals, because I was greedy and went back for the fruit, but mainly because I have failed my great grandfather. I was supposed return the crystals to the Cave of Darkness.” Quire began to cry.

“They were fake,” she said as she stepped onto her web, "They were a trap. The floor should have given away before you got to them! But then Theone never expected a little Subadorian boy. A grown Subadorian would have gone around the side. I think, in any case, as a Subadorian I can't have a feast as I normally do. I am required to help."

Quire looked up at the spider-like creature. She had twelve legs, six nostrils, a spider body, two fangs and lots of eyes.

"You are definitely Subadorian, no fear." She was only a few feet from him and he continued to stare at her.

"My lady, you are a lady, right?" Quire asked.

"You are correct."

"How many eyes do you have? And how did you know I have no fear?"

"Five hundred and three. I can sense fear. No fear is always a Subadorian."

Quire was very confused. "But, but I am different from the other Subadorians, they have fear and I don't. My hair and my eyes change color. I'm not allowed to return to the village because I am different, I am quire and now that is my name, Quire."

"No, my dear little one, all Subadorians have no fear and change their eye and hair color and many other things which you will discover as you grow. If the ones in your village can not do this it is they that are different!"

Quire was finding what she said confusing.

"Boy! Have you not studied Subadorian history? Do you know of Theone and Theseven?"

"We are forbidden to study Subadorian history and folklore. We are a shameful race. Only my great grandfather told me anything and that I have sworn to keep secret; to tell only my great grandson."

"What nonsense!" she said.

"What, I mean, my lady, how should I address you?" he asked.

"I am Eudorna."

"Eudorna, I need to find the crystals and return them to the Cave of Darkness. Can you help me find them?"

"I can tell you no more than you know. What I can tell you is this. If you are not Theone or Theseven you will not find them. You will be lost forever in the tunnels. I can give you a thread down to the tunnels. Once there you must tie the free end to the first rung very tight. This is important for if you don't and you aren't Theone or Theseven then perhaps you can find your way back to the tunnel entrance and I can help you back to the top. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"If you find the crystals your crystal alone will led you to the right cave, use it to defend yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell you no more." She handed him his empty knapsack, which Quire put on. "Turn around! Stand with your feet apart," she ordered.

Quire turned around with his feet apart. She hit him with her spider thread with a force that knocked him off the web, sending him downward rapidly, but in control. On his way down he realized that the wind went in cycles blow for two minutes and silence for fifteen seconds. When he got to the tunnel entrance Eudorna cut the thread and the free end floated downward. Quire reeled in the thread until he had the free end.

As soon as the wind slowed enough for Quire to enter without getting blown away Quire ran into the tunnel to find the rung. Finding the rung he securely tied the thread to it. As he finished tying the knot a blast of air hit, sending him uncontrollably down the tunnel. He had gone the full length of the thread floating in the middle of the tunnel between the top and the bottom. Luckily the knot he tied was strong and he went no further in the wrong direction.

After two minutes the wind subsided and Quire ran to get back to the entrance. He managed to get to the third rung before the wind started again. He held on to the third rung for dear life almost loosing his grip! As the wind died down he ran for the next rung, but slipped on the tunnel floor. He was almost to the fourth rung when the blast of air sent him flying past the first rung. The jolt of coming to the end of the thread caused the thread to snap and Quire was being blown down the tunnel!

As the wind died again he tried to find a rung in the very dim light, but had no luck and the wind was soon blowing him around the tunnel. Quire found that he could to some degree control his body in the wind sort of like when he swam under water in the river currents. He started noticing things like the tunnel was more like a pipe a very smooth pipe. After a quarter an hour of being blown around he started thinking about the message.

“SO INTO THE TUNNELS AGAINST THE WIND
YOU WILL NEVER REACH THE BEGINNING OR END
WHEN ALL SEEM LOST JUST LEARN TO OBSERVE
YOU WILL FIND THE WIND WILL WANT TO SERVE”

“Dang! Of course, no beginning and no end, it’s a circle!” he exclaimedAs the wind continued to blow.

“DANG! STOP BLOWING!” he yelled angrily.

The wind stopped. Quire fell to the floor.

“Hmmm. ‘You will find the wind will want to serve’,” he thought.

“START BLOWING!” he yelled.

Instantly the wind started blowing.

“STOP!”

The wind stopped.

“START - - STOP!”

A blast of air knocked him on his bottom.

“Start gentle!”

A gentle breeze blew.

“A little stronger.”

The wind increased its strength, pushing Quire along on his butt.

“Harder!”

The wind increased and Quire was lifted into the air.

He began to laugh and giggle, “Harder, harder, harder!”

The wind was blowing so hard that he went around the circular tunnel in seconds.

“Slower, much slower!”

The wind barely kept him in the air. As he came to the first rung he said, “Stop wind!”

The wind stopped and Quire walked out of the entrance. Looking up he could see Eudorna web. The room in which he stood was a large circular room. In the center of the room was a large circular table. On the table were the remains of the fake crystals. Other than that the room was bare.

Quire walked over to the table all he could see was a mess of broken fake crystals. They all looked like pieces of glass. The longer he looked at them the more confused he felt. “Use your heart, Quire!” he whispered to himself.

Quire closed his eyes and reached out over the table to take a crystal. As his hand past over the table, the pieces rearranged themselves and the fake crystals vaporized silently, one of seven crystals started faintly glowing a vague color of green. As Quire’s hand passed over the glowing crystal he felt a tingling sensation. He moved his hand back and felt the same tingling sensation. His hand moved down to pick up the crystal, which had caused the sensation. As he picked up the crystal, he felt a warm glow pervade his whole body. It was a very pleasant feeling.

Opening his eyes a few moments later he saw his crystal suspended between his thumb and forefinger, above this crystal were the six other crystals in a circle like a seven-pointed star. All the crystals had a hexagonal shape with a forty-four millimeter diameter and approximately 8 millimeters thick. They each had a faint pinkish glow except the one between his finger and thumb, which was now bright emerald green matching the color of his eyes.

With his right hand he pluck each of the other crystals from the circle and place neatly on the table. He took the crystal in his left hand and placed it on the table. Magically a golden color setting appeared around the crystal and the finest golden thread necklace was attached to the setting. In the next instant the necklace, the fitting and crystal were around Quire’s neck. The crystal, hanging weightlessly, was positioned between his left and right heart.

Quire took off his knapsack and placed the six other crystals safely in the knapsack, then returned the knapsack to his back. With both hands he held his crystal out before him. A beam of light shot out from the crystal and illuminated a rectangular area in space like a door before him. The light from this door glowed casting an eerie glow on the room and Quire. It looked almost like a pool of water glistening in the sunlight on a summer’s day. Quire stepped through the door.

The door and Quire disappeared.

So, what do you think? Like it? hate it? go to www.dragons-master.com and let me know. Sam Lakes.