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a foray explores a frontier |
| [Introduction]
Resster Brerst has inspired others to spy on a group of bandits that have raided their villages. Apparently the bandits are inspired, too-by a lady in green. She seems to work by magic calling into mind another incident in which the Crown Prince, sole heir of the King, was last seen with a lady in green who seemed to work by magic. Therefore Resster and some other spies venture into an unknown frontier to investigate this "lady in green" hoping they can stop the bandit raids and also save the prince, if indeed he is alive and with the "lady in green". *I want equal characters as boys and girls. I also hope to have seven or eight posters. Post bio blocks if you wish to participate!* |
| Name: Resster Brerst Age: 22 Gender: Male Appearance: he has brown eyes and hair, is of Caucasian ethnicity with a medium tan, and is a little over 5 1/2 feet tall Personality: intelligent but adventurous; bold yet somewhat withdrawn |
| Name:Liscia (Lee-she-ee-ah) Gurin Age:20 Appearence:About 5'4, thin but with curves. Her hair is long, cinnamon brown and wavy, and her eyes constently change from blue to hazel to green depending on her mood or her clothing choices. Liscia's body is well toned and tanned from her love of the outdoors. Her movements are swift and graceful. Personality:At first Liscia seems like a bright, bubbly, brunette, in reality she is much more. She is decisive, extremely intelligent, and very cautious. Once she has a plan she cannot be swayed, and her plan will be carried out swiftly and effectively. Liscia is an overachiever and a workaholic. She is extremely adventurous and has no problem doing anything new or even a bit exciting. One of Liscia's huge downfalls is that she falls for men very quickly and has a way of getting her heart broken. Having been shot down so many times is beginning to make her believe that she is undesireable by men. Skills:Liscia was the only apprentice that the Lady in Green ever had, no one knows this. Her magic is as formidable as the Lady's is. Because of her obsession with achieving greatness, Liscia is also one of the strongest female warriors ever in history. She is not, however, a very good spy, (she is too straightforward of a person to be good at sneaking around) but her magical and physical power make up for it. |
| Name: Gwendolyn Macarlos Age: She'll tell you she's twenty but really she's only seventeen. Appearance: She's about 5'3 and very thin with long feathery chestnut hair that shifts constantly from light brown to blonde to red. She always wears her hair down to hide behind. Gwendolyn's eyes are large, hazel, and hypnotic. When you look at her face they draw you in. She's not beautiful but she is rather striking. Personality: Gwendolyn is very secretive. She hides behind her hair and wears loose clothing to hide her figure. Gwendolyn is also quite bad tempered and quick to anger. She doesn't fall in love easily or quickly because she is very distrustful and skeptic. Often she blows hot and cold, because she is terrified that people will find out who (and what she is). Skills: Gwendolyn is the daughter of Gradniel, the Dream God. She gains a lot of her power from him. She can walk in the lands of Death and Dreams. In those dimensions she has performance magic but she can't work magic here. Gwendolyn is not athletic but she is a perfect shot with her bow. She also fights with knives when she must (she carries fifteen concealed on her body). Her strongest weapon are her eyes. Using eye contact she can take anyone with her into Death or Dreams (making her a necromancer of sorts) and use magic there, mostly to imprison them. Her main goal is to reverse unnatural necromancy and lay those who should be dead to rest. |
| Six spies huddled over a campfire. They decided to stay near the village to keep it safe - or rather, all but one would do so. That spy, Resster Brerst, was to go to the frontier to investigate the mysterious Lady in Green. The next day, they helped him pack. Two women approached them having heard the plan to send Resster to the frontier. As they went from small talk to serious conversation, Resster noticed that the eyes of Liscia and the hair of Gwendolyn changed. Making a gesture at the two to his fellow spies, Resster said, "I think we may have trouble. The other spies nodded and put daggers to the throats of the two women. "It seems we have two witches. Sorry to disappoint the Lady of the Green Cloth (a.k.a. the Lady in Green-author's note) but you two aren't coming with me!" |
Liscia The cold steel of the dagger grazed my throat. "I suggest that whoever it 'tis that is holding that dagger where is, move it." I still felt it resting on my neck. "You were warned." I said softly. I put my hand up quickly, and broke the wrist of the spy who held it there. I had noticed that Gwendolyn was still struggling a bit. I simply looked at the man. "The witch doesn't like me holdin' 'er friend." He laughed. Gwendolyn managed to have him release his grip on her, and she unsheathed a hidden dagger of her own bringing it to rest precariously on the mans chest. Gwendolyn had the same idea I had. The man, Resster Brerst, spoke. "Not only a witch I see..." "We wish to accompany you. That is all." Gwendolyn spoke. I nodded slowly in agreement. She flipped the kife away, and the man backed away. "There is no way that you can accomplish your mission without us. There is much more to us than what one would see at first glance." I said. "Of course Gwendolyn, we could take our services else where. Perhaps the Lady herself would like us on her side." I toyed with him. "Indeed." She laughed. "Perhaps we should simply leave Liscia?" We walked slowly away from the camp. "Wait. I may have been too quick to judge you two formidable ladies." |
| Gwendolyn: I stopped myself just short of saying, “Really do you think so?†Now that we seemed to be accepted by Brerst I took a backseat to Liscia. I didn’t even bother to listen to the conversation, but rather I watched everyone around us with furtive glances. The man had called me a witch, he didn’t know how right—and how wrong—he really was. My unease couldn’t only be attributed to him though: there was something wrong here. There was a reason why these five “spies†wouldn’t follow their leader. I shifted anxiously, not liking the situation. Even after Liscia and Brerst went off to discuss what we could bring to the group I was wary. Liscia wouldn’t say anything irrational, not even if she was half in love with Brerst already! Besides, she didn’t know much worth telling. All she could say was that I’m a knife fighter and bowman… and an experienced spy. Some people even called me an assassin, but they didn’t know that the people I hunted down were already dead. When Liscia first came to me she bubbled out a lot in a single night, and within a few days snowed in in the same lodge as her, I could feel that itchy wrongness in the Lady of Green’s tale. Something smelled necromantic, and it is my job to fix that. “You do think a lot don’t you, Gwendolyn?†Brerst had come up behind me, and startled me. It was not really a smart thing to do because the knife from the small of my back was quickly pressed against his throat and I already had unsheathed one of my wrist knives. Brerst smiled as I lowered the knife from his throat, but did not sheath it. I did not trust this man. “Liscia’s told me a lot about you.†He offers as he sits on a rock, gesturing for me to do the same. I comply and pull a whetstone from my pack. As I run the stone along my blade sparks fly. “She says you’re twenty.†I nod but even without looking up I can see his disbelief. I don’t need him to believe me. “And you aren’t a witch?†“No.†“I could have sworn you were.†“Well I’m not.†I snap back. “Ok then.†He stands up. “I just thought you should know. You, Liscia and I are setting out at dawn tomorrow. Alone. We’re going to find the Lady in Green, you know that?†I nod. “Good.†He stretches and begins to walk off. “Have a nice night and, by the way, is it thirteen knives? That’s how many I counted from your twitching.†“Fifteen.†“Ahh right. Well, goodnight then.†He walks off. |
| Name: Arod tol'Wyran Age: appears about 22 Gender: Male Appearance: Tall, slenderly muscular, with an angular face, black hair and dark, almond -shaped eyes. Personality: Has a certain deep quietness, hinting at age-old wisdom and sorrow. Skills: Is a shape-shifter |
| The Dream God, Gradniel, was concerned about his daughter. He put Resster to sleep in order to have a talk with him. In the dream, Resster looked around and around in a hazy mist. "Hello, is anyone there?" "I am," said a smooth, quiet voice. "Who are you?" "I am the Lord of this World, the World of Dreams." The mists swirled into a figure like a man. "I am Gradniel, the Dream God!" "Gradniel?" "Yes, you have my daughter!" "Your daughter?" "Yes, Gwendolyn. You must dismiss her." "Dismiss her?" "Yes, dismiss her! Don't you have some chivalry? 'Tisnt proper to endanger a lady!" "Well, I wouldn't wish to trouble the Dream God! I'll dismiss her!" "Yes, yes, that's the spirit...one last thing, don't tell her why," the Dream God whispered. "Why?" "I don't want her to know that I broke my promise. I promised her independence but alas she has gone too far! Therefore I broke my word." Resster woke up. Then he awoke Gwendolyn. "I'm sorry to say so but you are dismissed from this foray." "What?!?" "No arguing. Now, go!" |
Gwendolyn: There is something very suspicious about this. Brerst behaved very strangely when he just threw me out of the foray. I tried to get in to see him afterward but his men had been ordered to keep me out of the camp. I stalked off into the trees. Mentally I reviewed every second of my brief conversation with Brerst. Then I felt an odd presence. A squirrel was watching me very intensely. I looked at it and then spoke forcefully. "Reveal yourself or feel my wrath." Even I felt that it was a little pompous and the squirrel did not hide its amusement, chittering and chattering. I couldn't help but smile. Perhaps it wasn't some unnatural necromancy because it didn't smell dead in any sense, not even its spirit. Perhaps it was just a squirrel, meant to be my friend. I smiled and pulled my hair away from my face. It jumped forward and chattered. I looked deep into its eyes and pulled with my mind. Soon we were in the Dream World. There, I found that it was no squirrel, it was a man. I looked at him again. He was tall, about six foot, and handsome, though not conventially. His eyes were dark, almost black, and slanted. They were also terribly sad, especially in this realm, where illusions are hard to keep. I looked at his strong muscles and lean conditioned body and only smiled: they wouldn't help him here. "What's your name?" |
| Moving away from the village, Resster Brerst went to the arid North. Two days later, he was happy indeed that he had taken Liscia Gurin with him, for he had realized that he was in for a long, lonely journey... |
| Gwendolyn was also happy that Resster had taken Liscia along. Resster was an experienced tracker and knew how to walk and not leave signs of his passage. Liscia... she was no spy. And after weeks of traveling with Liscia, Gwendolyn found it only too easy to follow her friend's trail. Arod tol'Wyran, the squirrel, followed her lead in almost silence. His prescence made Gwendolyn rather nervous but she was sure that his company was benign. In the Dream World he'd shown up as a friend or ally of sorts and she'd been attracted to him. It took a lot out of Gwendolyn to admit that she had been atracted to Arod. This admission, even to herself, put her in a steely silence that seemed almost to amuse Arod as he followed her with his slanted eyes. The only time he volunteered an opinion was as they passed the temple of Rilan. Following Arod's suggestion more out of surprise than anything else, Gwendolyn slipped quietly into the Temple, Arod following her like a silent shadow. After they had passed the Altar he took her arm and pulled her back, taking the lead himself. Gwendolyn forced herself to be quiet and not question this odd new authoritativeness. He led quickly and surely until he approached a thick wooden door. Looking around sharply he knocked in a quick rhythm and then waited. The door swung open, and Gwendolyn blinked around, necromatic senses jumping. No one had opened the door yet a blast on unmagicked wind had just happened to appear...? Arod seemed unperturbed as he strode inside. Gwendolyn shrugged and followed him through the door. The shrug loosed the two knives sheathed and strapped to her shoulderblades. Gwendolyn did not trust this place. Arod stopped abruptly and nodded to a tall slim woman. He stepped back so that Gwendolyn could see her. "Who are you?" The woman demanded. Gwendolyn's hackles rose. "You might answer that question yourself." She snapped back, receiving an icy stare for her anger. "You came to me." The woman responded. "I was led here!" Gwendolyn protested. She surveyed the woman, preparing for a fight if necessary. Her opponent towered some seven inches above her but that was no worry. Gwendolyn was more interested in the thick hilt that hung, partially concealed by folds of white robe, on the stranger's hip. The hilt was heavy, meaning that the woman would have to be very strong to wield the blade, and must be a formidible warrior to choose such a difficult weapon. The advantage of a heavier, stronger, sturdier blade were normally overcome by the disadvantage of a slower, more stilted, and more tiring fight. Gwendolyn scowled at her estimable foe. "What's your name?" "I have no name." The woman replied infuriatingly, making Gwendolyn palm a wrist knife. "I am known as Stone Heart." "You fight?" Gwendolyn asked even though she already knew the answer. "I am the Blademaster of the South." The woman glared down at Gwendolyn who only scowled more deeply. "And you are?" "Gwendolyn Macarlos." Gwendolyn threw back her hair, ready to ensnare Stone Heart with her eyes (she wasn't about to take on the Blademaster in a weapons fight). Just as she trapped the woman, Arod slammed a hand down on her shoulder, breaking her concentration. "What?" She demanded, struggling to keep her knees from buckling. "I meant to find an ally, not make an enemy!" Arod hissed. Gwendolyn scowled at Stone Heart who seemed to be thinking hard about what had just happened. The shorter, younger girl retreated behind her hair. She was not going to be interrogated while she was in a temper! |
| Arod gripped Gwendolyn's shoulder and shook her gently. "I'm trying to help you, Gwen - please don't be angry." She nodded, but he could still feel her tension. Ever since she had told him about being dismissed from the foray, he had felt suddenly that she was in danger, and was compelled to stay with her. It wasn't that he thought she couldn't manage herself physically - he felt she had been hurt emotionally, and needed someone in that sense. Gwendolyn was different - beautiful, with a mystical frailness about her, yet strong. The comfort he had tried to give her so far had been simple, but he had not dealt with woman for years upon years, and it was difficult for him. "What have you brought us here for? Do you know this woman?" Gwendolyn asked. "No," Arod answered, lowering his dark eyes. "But I think Stone Heart may be able to help us. You may wonder why I inisisted on accompanying you, Gwen - I feel almost that you're in danger, and I don't want to see that." "It is the instinct of Shapeshifters to be protectors and guiders. They are a wise race, gentle-hearted, but not given to showing emotion readily." Stone Heart remarked carelessly to Gwendolyn. She eyed Arod. "I know much about your race, Shapeshifter, but I sense you do not know much about me. You only guess. What help do you think Ican give?" "I have the feeling you may know this area better than we do," Arod said cautiously. He did not feel the woman was evil, but he still felt given to being wary. "She may be an enemy," Gwendolyn cut in. "That she may be," Stone Heart nodded, with a hint of amusement in her voice. Arod studied Stone Heart for a moment, his form shifting from a moth, to a beetle, to a young wolf, to his normal form once more. In moments of concentration he often shifted without realizing it. He finally turned to Gwendolyn. "The Shapeshifters have a sense for reading people. It is one of the few gifts we have retained." He looked at Stone Heart. "Will you give us your aid, or no?" |
| Stone Heart led the shapeshifter and that young woman, Gwendolyn, away from the temple and after a few days they caught up to Resster Brerst. Suddenly they "decided" to take a nap letting their pack animals run free! Then in the dream world the deep voice of the Dream God said, "Can't you take a hint?!? Brerst has rejected you and I support him wholeheartedly! This adventure and other such adventures with their risks is for the mortals who die like the flowers at autumn anyways. Therefore, desist, my daughter, and go on adventures no more and recruit help no more for you are the daughter of a god and therefore above the petty conflicts that so concern mortals." |
| Gwendolyn was in a rather bad mood. Forcing herself out of the Dreamworld against its Lord's will was difficult and Gwendolyn was surprised that she could manage it. She snapped her eyes open and scowled at the two sleeping near to her. She was itchy and a night time stroll alone didn't appeal. Besides she couldn't go far unless she wanted to risk running into Resster Brerst's camp. Maybe that wasn't the only problem. Maybe she was in such a temper that the idea of slitting that pompous man's throat was so appealing. Gwendolyn had another long fight with herself and finally, realizing that her will might not be quite strong enough to prevent a murder, she lifted the Sleep-Spell from Arod. He awoke with a start. "Gwen?" "I don't trust her." Gwendolyn said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why do we need her anyway?" Arod pulled himself off the ground and strode over to sit on a rock beside her. "Because look what she's done. We're on Brerst's tail. It's what you wanted." "And being tied to her? Having to do what she says? It's ridiculous, Arod. We should just get out of here." Gwendolyn protested, her head buried in her skirt. Cautiously Arod lowered a hand onto her back. She flinched and pulled away, glaring at him evaluatingly. His gaze was open and kind, full of an earnest desire to help and protect. "Look, Stone Heart's a good warrior. If you don't trust her why don't you do that what-not with your eyes and see what she is in your world." The idea was tempting but Gwendolyn shook her head, biting her lips to stop tears. "I'm never going back to the Dream World. My father... he's such a... No, Arod. It looks like I'm back to living like a mortal." Arod nodded, and shifted into a sweet little cat, pawing at her. She smiled and pulled him onto her lap, cuddling his soft fur. He shifted into a bigger wildcat with more fur to cuddle, his paw resting on her back, and her breathing slowly fading into a half-sleep, safe from Gradniel yet restful. |
| A sudden crack, as of someone treading on leaves, awoke him. He started, still in cat-form, and sniffed the air...something was walking the woods. Stone Heart was no where to be seen, and Gwendolyn was asleep...at least, she appeared to be. Arod shifted silently into a dark-furred wolf and padded softly a few yards away. Stone Heart was crouching behind a large boulder - when she saw him approach, she lifted her finger to her lips, motioning for him to be silent. "Demons!" she signed, "I can feel them." Arod shifted to human form and lifted his hand to sign back. "I think I can too...could you see them?" "No. Look, I'll stay here. You go back to Gwen - no need to wake her just yet, until we're sure there's danger. If I think they're continuing this way, I'll whistle for you two." Arod nodded and, shifting into an owl, glided back to Gwen's sleeping form. |
| A horde of demons ran at Stone Heart, Arod, and Gwendolyn from each of three sides forcing them forward. Then Resster pulled them behind a bush one by one and gestured for quiet each time. Liscia helped him. The demons having lost sight of them began to sniff the air for their scent. After a moment of silence, the lead demon pointed to the bush. "There they are!" The five of them ran off with all the demons at their heels. Finally they were surrounded by a large boulder and a semicircle of cackling demons. "Shit, man, shit!" cursed Resster. Just then the boulder changed into the shape of Gradniel. "Gwen, did you think you could escape the dream world? I pulled you back in with your friends. This is getting old so for all gathered I will repeat my message: Gwen, I forbid you to go on this mission. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?" |
| Liscia With those words Gradniel took hold of Gwen by the shoulders banished the demons with a wave of his had and disappeared. "What the hell?!" Resster yelled. "Why is it that he won't allow Gwen to come with us?" It simply didn't make sense. She had not wanted to return to the Dream World, was her father really so hard-headed? "Well it isn't as if we can follow Gwen to the Dream World, so we have to trust her enough to get herself out of this situation. My vote is that we should just continue on our journey and hope that somewhere down the road she will rejoin us..." |
| Gwendolyn was not happy about being imprisoned between realms. Her father, obviously worried that she had managed to fight her way out of the dream world, had dumped her between realms where she had no powers and no way to free herself. Obviously he thought that a few millenia in limbo would bring her to her senses. Gwendolyn had no intention of remaining there. Instead she thought around the problem. She couldn't stare at anyone so she couldn't move anyone, but what if she had a mirror. What if she could stare at herself. Slowly and painfully she physically struggled with her bonds (something that the insubstantial Gradniel hadn't thought of) and managed to turn over. She looked down on a kind of heaven and at the bottom she could see water. Now to test if she could move herself into the dreamworld. And from there, if she could avoid Gradniel's notice and rejoin the Forray. If Gradniel saw her escape she would bet that she wouldn't get free the next time. But she tried anyway. |
| The next day, the foray unexpectedly met a lady in green dress on a white horse. With her was a silent knight in black armor on a brown horse. "Hello, travelers," said the cheerful lady. "Yes, hello," said Resster, "have you any idea where the Crown Prince of the Esterine Kingdom is? We've been searching for him." The lady laughed. "I have no clue. Yet if you need help then consider going on the road to the northeast. There you can lodge for some weeks in a castle of friendly giants. I'm sure they will be hospitable and let you rest with them. And now I must go." She then left. "Hummmmm...." mused Resster. Silently he wondered whether this was the mysterious Lady of the Green Cloth. He also wondered if she was trustworthy. What if her companion was but an enchanted skeleton behind the armor? After all, he hadn't said one word. |
| (Hmm.... This seems very much like C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair. Anyone else see the similarities?) Liscia "We must not go!" I protested. The Green Lady had changed much physically over the years, but her black heart was still the same. "Sorceress' intuition? or something else?" Resster inquired. "Perhaps I should tell you about myself. It should clear a few things up." I paused. "You must promise not to react until I am finished." I said quickly. Resster promised. I delved into my old memories. I explained to him all the things that had to come out eventually. "I had been the Green Lady's apprentice, she took me in at age five. She was much like a mother to me. She loved me and helped me grow. The Green Lady did not make me do meaningless chores, as other masters of the craft made their helpers do. Instead she showed me magic. My innate ability to create things from nothing, to change anything I wanted, to bend people to do as I wished. I could do anything with my magic. She made me invincible. When I reached the tender age of 15, I fell in love with Sureon, the Crown Prince of Esterine. He was to ask for my hand come my sixteenth birthday. However a Duke, of no consequence, asked before. The Green Lady, as my guardian, accepted his proposal, believing that no better offer could be made. I could not protest because she would never believe that a prince would ask for me. The wedding day drew nearer, and I grew more and more bitter towards her. I ran the night before the Duke and I were to wed. I ran to my Prince." I paused in my story, it was becoming increasingly more difficult to tell. Recalling all the memories. The pain. I took a deep breath and continued. "I saw him with the Green Lady, she had him under her complete control. His mind was hers... She knew about our affair, and still she wanted me to marry the duke. The Green Lady then blew a shimmery powder, which I knew was a translocation potion, over him and whispered the place where he was to go. I fled from the spot, reliving the moment he disappeared over and over again. Morning came, and I decided to return to the cottage I had grown up in. I entered reluctantly, she was sitting on a stool, a smirk of utter triumph on her face." I paused once more to explain her reasoning. "She had taught me magic so well that she now thought me a threat to her. If I were to marry the duke, I not be a formidable enemy. She believed that with my prince gone I would marry this duke. I surprised her. On that day, my wedding day I turned the duke into a common fly and placed him by a garbage heap full of other flies. I told her that if she wished me to marry, she would have to find the groom first. Needless to say, she was furious. We dueled that day. Neither of us won, but she still knew where Prince Sureon was. I scoured the lands for him. Years I searched." A lone tear trickled down my cheek. I wiped it away. It was a hateful reminder for me. "That is how I ended up here. The cheerful and most helpful woman we saw today was the Lady of the Green Cloth. She may not have noticed me, but I doubt it." "So the Giant's Castle is a trick then?" Resster asked. "I assume so. I know that you may not trust me now. If you wish for me to leave the foray, I shall. I will find my prince. With or without your help. I prefer company though." |
| "I'll go with you." A voice came out of the shadows. A ghostly apparition came forward. It had Gwendolyn's face and body but it was drained of colour, completely gray. The forray looked at it, afraid. "Don't worry, it's me, Gwendolyn. I just need a little time to regroup." Gwendolyn stepped forward. She was no longer dressed in her baggy clothes and her hair was not knotted and fallen forward. Instead she wore long, trailing robes of a silvery gray, belted tightly around her waist and flowing gently around her thin form. Her hair had been tied back with silver threads and it was topped with a crown. "As you can see, I'm not quite back to my old self." Gwendolyn smiled gently. She looked calmer, older, more serene, except for her eyes which glistened slightly with anger. "I will be soon though." Gwendolyn reached behind her and pulled out a single silver arrow. She examined it for a moment and then, pulling her bow from her back, she shot the arrow far into the air. "It's time that the foray met its trackers. Liscia can't be allowed to go on alone." |
| That night Resster left the sleeping foray with their unknown, unreliable personal quirks and followed a line of horse tracks. He went to a gang of bandits and offered to assist the Lady of the Green Cloth. The bandits took the offer to her and by noon the next day Resster was in an small underground room branching out from a tunnel. The Lady opened the door. "So you offer me your services?" "Yes, let me guide your soldiers into the kingdom," Resster said, hoping to gain crucial information by pretending to be a traitor. |
Liscia "Gwendolyn, my friend, I thank you. We started this together, and I'm glad that you will be here to finish it with me." It was still early morning. The night had passed without incident, and Gwen and I were catching up on how we had ended up here. Suddenly, she looked around the campsite. "Something doesn't seem quite right." Her eyes narrowed in thought. "What could it be... You don't think that-" "Yes, I do. Resster, he's gone. He left us to the Green Lady. A cowardly move, he is a traitor." "He wouldn't. He can't. She cannot know of my search for the Prince. The Lady believed that after a certain time I would stop looking for him. If she finds out that I am still trying to find him and that I am after her, she may murder him." I stood up, and Gwendolyn followed my lead. I packed my things quickly. "I cannot allow that to happen. Gwen... this isn't your battle. If you would rather go on alone, I wouldn't think any less of you." |
| "Liscia, as much as you and I would both like to believe that I came back here for friendship and loyalty, it isn't true." Gwendolyn's godlike appearance had not dissapated and she was a formidable foe. "I came here to fight the Green Lady. It's my duty." "We're not here to fight her. We're here to get the prince back." Liscia objected. Gwendolyn glared back furiously. "You're here to get back the prince. I'm here to do my duty." "And what's that?" Liscia snapped. Her plan was failing and the determined woman wouldn't let it die without a fight. "To kill the Dead." Gwendolyn replied calmly, noting Liscia's disgust without a change of expression. "Some people have learned to raise them over the years. But only one person has learned to lay them back to rest. And that's me." "Well do your duty some other time. They're Dead, they're not going anywhere." "Unless they're disguised in black armor and riding around with the Green Lady. Unless they're coming together into an army. An army ready to topple this kingdom. You're wrong Liscia, they are going somewhere." "How is this possible?" Liscia couldn't believe what she is hearing. "Someone who is very strong was resurrected. And I have my own sneaking suspicion about who he is and what he wants more than anything." Liscia didn't understand. "If that man is your prince, I'm sorry but I'll kill him. He can't live." "You--" Liscia jumped at Gwendolyn. She was intercepted by a tiger. The tiger pushed her down and away, before circling Gwendolyn protectively. "You're a demon! You talk of killing a Prince and you have bewitched animals! Get away!" |
| Resster gave the Witch a false plan to get behind the soldiers of Esterine. In fact his plan would place her soldiers in front of border guards and not to their rear. He learned that the tunnel was nearly finished. He also met the Lady's friend who was to take some Kingdom and thereby overcome evil magic that kept him from his rightful place. When asked of the Crown Prince of Esterine, he claimed to know of neither the prince nor his kingdom. Resster was learning alot about what was really going on... |
| Gwendolyn left Arod and Liscia to fight it out. She felt weak, dizzy, very unlike herself, yet she stubbornly refused to sleep even though her eyes itched and yawns fought to roll out. She dropped in the doorway of her tent, splashing water from her drinking flask on her face. It was refreshing enough for her to get back up. She made it over to a little chest in the corner of the tent. From there she pulled a small vial of forest green liquid and, after eyeing it distastefully, she gulped it down gasping at the fire it burned in her throat. But it refreshed her and she stood straight again, renewed and re-energized. A whoosh in the opposite corner of the tent announced her father's presence. "And how long are you going to keep this up, Gwendolyn?" "As long as I need to." Gwendolyn replied without turning around. She busied herself grinding mint leaves with a mortar and pestle. "I have no intention of getting tied up again... not until I've done what I came back to do." An icy but insubstantial hand brushed her shoulder. "They don't want you here, daughter, come home. You can stay in the palace, if you'd like?" Gwendolyn whirled around furiously. "I'm not a little girl, Father! I have work to do." Gradniel backed away sadly. "What is it? What do you know?" "I cannot..." "Well I'm not leaving. So you can help me or leave, it's your choice." Gradniel turned his back to her, standing in the opening of the tent looking out. Gwendolyn waited, hands on her hips. Finally he spoke, in a whispering voice, "Mi hinath Ligran Imbrith imbenen." "What did you say?" Gwendolyn asked, her voice shaking. Gradniel turned around solemnly. "Mi hinath Ligran Imbrith imbenen Mordan." Father and daughter chorused the translation together: "When even Gods' blood is in the Dead." |
| The Lady's friend had a memory stretching no further than 10 years though he looked 30. Interestingly he was the one who revealed the movements of gnome soldiers and the secret blood that the Lady had in her veins. For she was not of the humans but of the ancient spirits that had been in existence thousands of years before humanity was able to expand beyond a few isolated bands. These ancient spirits were scared by the divine might that came from Heaven itself as humanity emerged from seclusion. They receded into the faraway frontiers. There one millenia ago the Lady was born from the union of the fairy and the giant. And so she arose to be a mighty Queen. This Queen had saved him from peril and told him to place his worries before her, that his well-being would be best served in her hands. |
| Uhh, I'm confused.. When did Liscia ever fighht with Arod? And Liscia's goal was to kill the Green Lady for all the pain and heartbreak the Lady put her through...... Liscia So this was the way it would be? Fine by me. I silently left the campsite when everyone had fallen asleep. "I'll find the Green Lady on my own. As I had always intended..." I promised myself. I cast an invisibility spell on myself, and sought to find the Green Lady, and perhaps finally find my beloved Sureon. Almost six year have passed.... I walked on, my thoughts wandering, but my eyes and magical sensesd focused. "Sureon!" I gasped. I had felt him. Had he broken a part of the Lady's spell for a few moments in time? I said a quick prayer and followed where Sureon's spark of his true self had come from. I came to an hole surrounded on three sides by large boulders. Making the hole unnoticed by anyone who didn't know what they were looking for. I did. I slid down into the hole in the earth. I felt another spark from Sureon... But I noticed then, noticed Resster's presence. He had betrayed me. Or was it just a part of his plan? Mayhap is still true to his friends.... I made my way to where he was. If he was a traitor, I would kill him with my magic without a second thought to the notion. Now all that is left is to see..... |
| Gwendolyn noticed Liscia's disappearance the next morning. She had been sitting up all night, two vials of potion worth, thinking. If the Lady's blood was the God's, and she knew it, she'd have used it to seal the spell. In that case her minion, the King of the Dead, might be trapped between life and death, and would contain a parasite. Gwendolyn sighed, here she was in unfamiliar territory. She was used to trapping people, in sleep or in death, and freeing them too, but the people who were neither alive, dead, or sleeping... they were the ones that she had never been tested against. Gwendolyn spent the whole night reliving every kill, every liberation, every eternal sleep. There was nothing there that would help. Then she remembered Liscia. If Liscia had something of the prince's... a lock of hair, a beloved possession, if she had that then Gwendolyn could use that as an anchor for the part of the Prince that still lived as she banished the parasite. Then, then the Prince might live and the spirit die. Gwendolyn ran out of her tent calling for Liscia. The girl was nowhere to be found. "Arod!" Moments later a great siberian tiger bounded up. He shuddered and reformed into Arod. "I need you to find Liscia. She's gone." Arod nodded and morphed into a great falcon. He hopped up onto her arm and nuzzled her cheek. Gwendolyn smiled and hesitantly stroked his feathers. The falcon's eyes squinted in pleasure. She planted the tiniest of kisses on his beaks and even as he tried to morph back into human form she threw him into the air, watching as his great wings unfolded to support him. The falcon circled around several times high over her before giving a great cry and wheeling off to one side. |
| "Damn it!" Resster turned around. The Lady of the Green Cloth had tapped Liscia on the shoulder forcing her to shed her invisibility. Arod had followed her foottracks and took the form of a gnome. In fact he was one of the five gnome guards that bound her with magic ropes. The Lady of the Green Cloth sighed, "Liscia, my dear, did you really think I'd permit you to raid my kingdom like some bandit?" "Guards, take her away!" yelled the Lady of the Green Cloth. |
Liscia I felt the distinct aura of Arod. I looked at the gnome guards pulling me to the bowels of the Green Lady's palace. I whispered a quick spell and four of the gnomes fell to the ground. A specific spell that wouldn't affect changelings and shape-shifters. "Hello Arod." "Liscia. This probably wasn't your smartest move, coming down here I mean." "Perhaps I did it on purpose." Realization hit him. "So you understand now? The Lady doesn't think I'm much of an adversary. She still thinks that I'm the student, but this pupil has surpassed her teacher." "I know what you want to do. It's insane, risky at best, but not impossible. You need to get to the Lady's inner chambers, right?" "Exactly. I need to know that I can count on Resster though, will you go to him?" He quickly nodded and, still in gnome form, went to meet Resster. I knew the Lady of the Green Cloth's secret. The one thing she guarded so carefully. Her name... I went to the walls, placed my lips less than an inch away, and whispered into them. "You are nothing without your name Imeia, the so-called Green Lady. Long, long ago, you gave me a name as well. Do you remember? The Blue Maiden is what you called me. You claimed that I was of the Air and the Sea, and you were of the Land and the Plants which grow." I paused, and drew my words out for emphasis. "The Water and Sky are far more vast than the Earth and Trees could ever hope to be. I understand now, why you sought to destroy me mentally. You were afraid of me then. You are terrified of me now. I am coming for you Imeia." The walls would carry my message to her. Walls had ears, and voices as well. Very few knew that walls were more than just walls, and even less took the time to talk or listen to them. I walked down the corridor following the Lady's voice. "Terrified of a child?" She laughed. "You are nothing without your sweet prince! And he is nothing without me!" Her poisonous words echoed all around me. "I gave you that name! It was mine to bestow, and it is mine to take away. You shall never be my equal, and you shall never be worth anything more than an orphan to be pitied." Her words stung, but I continued on my path. "You are wrong Imeia, and you know it." "Do not call me that!" She screamed. The entire underground vibrated. "The great and all-powerful Imeia is petrified by her own adopted daughter. Strange turn of events, wouldn't you say so- Mother." The Lady screamed once more. "That was a name I gave you, a title we both cherished. It was mine to give, but you murdered it. You don't deserve it any longer." There was silence. Then a soft whisper. "I am ready for you Little Maid. Are you capable of getting your toy back?" She taunted. ******* I opened the ornate glass double doors. There before me sat the silent knight. Imeia, the Green Lady, was no where to be seen. I stood in the doorway. It can't be this easy. "More games Imeia? Too much of a coward to face me? I believe that constitutes as an act of fear." The knight rose. I waved my hand, and said a special counter spell. The armor fell to the floor. There was nothin inside, save dust. Making inanimate objects move was elementary magic at best. "You've lost your touch." "We'll see Little Maid, we'll see." Seconds later Resster and Arod rushed in. "You're too late." "Did you win?" Resster asked. "She fled." Arod said. "So what now?" Resster prodded. I motioned for silence. I whipped around. The door had been locked and bolted from the outside. The Lady's magic had sealed me from using magic to open it. She had captured us. Resster's eyes widened. "We're stuck! Damn it all! We'll never get out of here without outside help." "You've won this round Imeia." I whispered "I know." I was the only one who heard her voice. It looked like Gwen was our only hope... |
| Gwen waited anxiously for Arod to return. He didn't. After three hours she had to face facts: something had happened. An hour after that she had to face another fact: she didn't know what to do. When Gwendolyn summoned Gradniel she was shaky and angry. Her father noticed this at once. "What is it?" "She's got them... all of them." Gwendolyn spat out the words. "What you said... the blood of the Gods. Who's blood?" "I can't say, you know that." Gwendolyn shoved Gradniel up against a wall, her arm across his windpipe. "Who's blood?" "Gwendolyn!" "I'm sorry, Father, but I'm going to get him back." Gwendolyn swiped angrily at a tear running down her cheek. "Him?" Gradniel was horrified but Gwendolyn's gaze didn't falter. Gradniel sighed, "It's the blood from the Royal line. It was divine once, it's been diluted but in each of the first children it runs strong." "And Sureon is the first born child?" "No, he's not in the right line." Gradniel sighed. "The King's father's first child wasn't in his marriage. It was a certain... youthful indiscretion. The problem is that the line was diverted to the Sorceress's child, a child who grew up with the power of the blood and the power of the Sorceress." "The Green Lady." Gwendolyn smiled grimly. "And how the hell am I supposed to defeat her now." "You're not." Gradniel sighed and inhaled deeply as Gwendolyn released him. "But in good faith I should remind you that you're a Goddess. She's only a long way down an ancient line." Gwendolyn's head jerked up. "You aren't supposed to do this Gwendolyn. I don't even know if you can. But it's possible." "Teach me to beat her." "I can't." Gwendolyn lunged at her father again, but he'd already slipped between realms. His voice hovered for a moment. "But I think you could break her charm if it were in the right place." Gwendolyn thought about what he'd said for a while... then a wicked grin crossed over her face. Now how hard would it be for her to move an entire castle into the realm of Dreams? |
| "Arod!" Resster shouted. "Yes," he replied. "I'd like you to become a mole--in fact a gigantic mole bigger than any ever seen by the eyes of Man or Woman. For if you were a mole as big as an elephant then perhaps we could escape. If Imeia has sealed the walls then perhaps she hasn't sealed the underground. Right, Liscia?" "Possibly..." Liscia said with a soft murmur. "Then it's worth the attempt!" Resster said enthusiastically. _________________________________________________ Madeleine, could you explain your new addition? Could you also explain on this campfire why Liscia ever fought with Arod? Daisy and I would both appreciate your explanation though perhaps you expalined to Daisy already. Happy Thanksgiving! |
| (Yea I'm kinda confused, but I'll go with it. Ohh, fgto, Liscia is the only person who knows the Green Lady's name. Only cuz it's the Green Lady's most guarded secret...) Resster and I watched Arod try to drill downward. It was not going well. "Wait a moment." I said quietly. "Arod, we're already underground. Maybe if you drilled upward..." "Ohh, I see." Resster started. "Drilling from the bottom up, instead of the other way around." "Exactly!" I cast a spell on Arod, and he started clawwing at the ceiling. ****** "We made it through!" Resster said. To actually get out, I had to levitate all three of us. It was a somewhat draining physically, but I was still okay. So long as I had a bit of time to rest, I would be fine... (Sorry this is so choppy, writer's block. Can you guys tell?) |
----------Explanations for the Campfire---------- Sorry everyone! Four entries of mine ago, Liscia jumped at Gwendolyn when Gwendolyn said that she's knock off Liscia's prince if he turned out to be the Dead leader. Arod intercepted Liscia, and defended Gwendolyn, and Liscia called Arod a "bewitched animal" and called Gwendolyn "a demon." I assumed that from there there would be a confrontation between Arod and Liscia although no one wrote it out. Then my last entry: ok, here goes. Gradniel had told Gwendolyn that the person who was leading the Green Lady's forces had God's blood in him: ie, "when even the God's blood is in the Dead." In the last entry Gwendolyn basically beat up his father to make him tell her who it was who had the God's blood in them: it's the Green Lady. She has the blood because the King's line had the blood and ahem, one of the King's slept around a bit and fathered an illegitimate child who mothered a daughter: the Green Lady. So basically, the Green Lady's a sorceress and she's part divine. And the last part, Gradniel hints to Gwendolyn that if she wants to increase her powers and decrease the Green Lady's she needs to be in the realms of Dream or Death where her powers are a hell of a lot stronger. So what she's trying to do is shift the whole castle, prisoners and all, into the realm of Dreams. wow that was a long explanation. -------------------------------------------------- Gwendolyn approached the Green Lady's stronghold, ready to drag as much of it as she needed into the Dream Realm and stopped short and gasped. "Arod? Liscia? Resster?" They were all lying on the ground in front of her. "Oh, please don't be dead!" But they weren't. Gwendolyn threw herself at Arod who caught her quickly, blinking in surprise. "I thought you were dead!" "No." He smiled, and hugged her. She hugged him back and then pushed him away. "Don't scare me like that." He put his hands up in defeat. "How did you get out?" They explained quickly and then Gwendolyn told them what she knew about the Green Lady's blood. "Because she's got that blood she's got more lives than a cat. There's no way you're going to be able to kill her. It'd be like you trying to kill me." "So what do you suggest?" Resster asked. "I think that Liscia and I need to plan this." Gwendolyn smiled at Liscia. "I think that while you can't kill her and I don't know if I could either, I think that we might be able to kill her together." Gwendolyn leaned in conspirorarily. "What we need is one of your spells and my powers. Can we do that?" |
| Resster knows the Green Lady's name because he heard Liscia say it. ______________________________________________ Resster returned to the Green Lady's kingdom with three "captives". "M'lady, these three companion o'mine have betrayed me! My loyalty is to you, my queen!" "Good! Guards, take the captives away! As for you, my prince, make sure our guest here is comfortable," the Green Lady said. Resster was ecstatic. Now he'd be able to get close to this so-called prince. As for others, they were nervous. What if the Green Lady had them executed before they could escape? For the Green Lady saw that they were not securely captured then the Green Lady might figure out their trick... |
Liscia Already I was hating this plan. Hadn't we just escaped my former adopted mother? It seemed like suicide... Then again, I don't have anything to loose. Arod, Gwen and I were blindfolded and forced forward. I assumed that they were taking us to a holding cell before we were murdered. I said a quick spell and formed a mind-link with Gwen. Resster's been given ample time to get into place. Are you sure we should act now? He needs to have perfect timing for this to work. I'm sure, besides I loathe not being able to see my own steps. I made a sharp whistle. Gwen let out a powerful death spell, whilst I shielded the three of us. We heard thuds, the quards falling, dead as doornails. Arod turned into a bird and then back into his normal form. His binds fell from their place and he untied us immediately. I cloaked us in an invisibility spell, and Gwen kept us out of the realm of the Green Lady's magical alarms. This way we were able to move undisturbed, undetected, and with haste. I wonder if this will be my last stand... I thought with some remorse. We would see... |
| More explanations: OK, Gwendolyn isn't a witch. She's part god. She can't do spells and stuff. The only way she can take people into death is through direct eye contact. And she can't just take people out of the realm of an alarm. The dream/death realms are completely different worlds! I'm going to assume that they switched realms all together and that the death spell was Liscia's. ------------------------------------------------ Gwendolyn yanked Arod and Liscia with her out of the castle and into the realm of dreams. She sighed with the effort and fell back. Liscia pressed her eagerly, "And Resster? What about him?" "Give me a second to breathe and we'll go to him." Gwendolyn snapped, crabby with the effort of dragging two people through the barrier between the realms at once. She was very crosseyed from trying to look them both in the eye at once. "I'll tell you what. I'll take Arod back first, as a mouse or something, then I'll come back for you Liscia." Liscia nodded and Arod turned into a mouse obligingly. Before Gwendolyn skipped realms a hand closed on her shoulder and pulled her back. "Father?" Gradniel looked old, wrinkled and in pain. "We need to talk, Gwendolyn." "Not right now." His daughter pulled away. Gradniel sighed. "The Green Lady recognized you. She is already trying the barriers to my world." Gradniel looked down. "She's been sucking all the magic out of her world to try and break down my walls. This has gone far enough, this is what comes of meddling in mortal's affairs." "We'll defend the realm, Father." Gwendolyn whispered to him in Olde Tongue. He looked at her meaningfully. "And what if your defences don't hold?" "They will hold." Gwendolyn said firmly. "And I will kill the Green Lady. Don't doubt that." Gradniel took his hand from her shoulder. "It is not you I doubt." He whispered back in Olde, and pushed all three of them through the barrier together. They landed... |
| The Prince said to Resster: "It's odd. My Lady usually returns to supervise the gnomes that bind me." "Bind you?" asked Resster. "Yes, I said 'bind me'. They bind me to a chair lest my (the Prince bent his fingers to make quotation marks when he said 'my') demons use me. For at night demons arise to use me." He asked Resster to accompany him in a neighboring room. (They were currently at a dining hall.) Then two gnomes bound the Prince to a silver chair... |
| Gwendolyn, Arod and Liscia tumbled into the room next to the silver chair. Liscia squeaked in surprise, joy, and horror. She jumped in front of the prince. "Sureon, Sureon!" The Prince looked through Liscia. Gwendolyn watched them in silence while Arod and Resster fought the gnomes. It wasn't fair, she thought. She cast a glance over the gnomes and they fell down dead. "What has he said, Resster?" "The gnomes, they... bind him. Apparently demons attack him at night." Resster moved towards the chair. "Stop." Gwendolyn touched the prince's forehead lightly. "A demon to the Lady is likely an ally to us. We must keep him here and let these demons come." Liscia stood up, face wet with tears. "And what if they are demons?" "If we "what if" we'll never get him free." Gwendolyn snapped. "Look, Liscia what you want is the prince. There's your prince. Do what you wish with him, I have work to do." Gwendolyn began to stalk off, her hair flying out behind her. Arod caught her arm, and pulled her in front of him. "Gwendolyn, focus." His eyes were intent on hers. He nodded softly. "I know why you're angry." "No you don't know." She tried to jerk free. "I came here to help you, to help this world. And what happens? My own realm is in danger because of what I did? What happens if she breaks through? What happens if she destroys them?" Her voice broke down into indestinct tears, her voice choked. "She won't." Arod curled Gwendolyn into his arms, shushing her gently. "She won't. We won't let her." Gwendolyn cried into Arod's loose shirt, sobbing freely now. Arod looked up at Liscia, holding her prince's hand, and Resster, standing surrounded by gnome corpses. "Where do we go now?" No one answered. "I asked, 'where do we go now?'" Arod's voice stiffened. "Resster, you started this. Now help us finish it. Where do we go now?" |
"No! I'm going to finish it." I said pulling Sureon from the chair. "You don't know how to get him out of that frozen state Liscia." Arod said. "I don't care, Gwen is right. I came for him." I paused. "Do you hear me Imeia? I'm finshed with you!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. It was all true. I was finished with it, everything. All that mattered was my prince. My Sureon. I would find out what would bring him back to normal. "Thank you for your help. I'm leaving now. Goodbye." I cast a movement spell on Sureon so that I wouldn't have to carry him. He obediently followed behind me. Resster began to say something. But Arod cut him off. "Just let her go." My darling. I'll get you back to normal. I promise. We don't need anyone. Not Imeia, not Gwen or Resster or Arod. Not anyone. There's just us. Only us... |
| As Sureon walked out of the room he fell into a coma. As he did so the connection he had with Liscia was severed. Of course that connection was somewhat weak for the Chair held the prince's mind. Earlier Resster had tried to stop Liscia. For it was his belief that as Liscia brought her prince out of the room, she separated his body from his mind inducing a potentially lethal coma. Now perhaps Liscia could work around that--or so thought Resster--in truth the prince fell into a coma without Liscia so much as expecting such a possibility. Thus it happened as Resster had expected. Thus Resster decided that it was his turn to solve the problem of how to free the prince. With a bloodcurling cry, Resster cut the Chair in two. The prince began to graually gain consciousness proving that Resster's belief was correct... |
I was shocked. Beyond that. There truly were no words to express the feelings that flooded me when Sureon looked at me with love in his eyes. It had been almost five years, but he still remembered what we shared. He took me in his arms and kissed my forehead lightly. "I'm so sorry." I was puzzled. "But Sureon, why are you sorry?" "I should never have left you." "I should have found you sooner." We both smiled. This was our way. Neither of us would ever shift the blame on the other. "Darling," He began. "Let us go back to Esterine and finally be wed." Arod placed a hand lightly on my prince's shoulder. "Liscia, and the rest of us have some unfinished business." "Imeia." "Finish her, once and for all." Resster said. I walked over to him. "Thank you Resster. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. If you want my help in defeating the Lady, I will gladly offer my services." "You all have saved me. I, too, offer my services. I can be pretty handy with a sword." Sureon smiled. He and Resster shook on it. "Let's go then." Arod said. |
| Gwendolyn watched the exchange between Liscia and her prince carefully. As a necromancer, sworn to lay the dead to rest, she was wary of Sureon, particularly after his coma. Something was still masking him, still holding part of him. Much as she didn't want to, Gwendolyn could smell a touch of Death on the Prince. She pulled out two knives as she followed the group through the arched doorway. One was a fighting knife, long with a tapered blade. The other had runes and spells etched along its length, an athemae of sorts, one that would kill the Dead. It was a small knife, a simple one to throw, and the most powerful one she had ever known. Gwendolyn bit her lip, telling herself that if she had to, she would throw it at Sureon. As it turned out, Gwendolyn did not have long to deliberate before the group came to a halt. Imeia stood before them, robed in deep blue velvet, with twining wires of silver round her arms and neck. She looked ready for a ceremony. "Liscia," Imeia opened her arms, the gesture friendly but her eyes fierce. "I see you have found Sureon." The woman smiled wickedly, "And broken the Chair, too? I am impressed." Gwendolyn stepped forward quickly and threw the athemae deftly into Imeia's chest. The sorceress looked at it incredulously and began to laugh. Gwendolyn scowled, "Athemae!" She called and it returned to her hand. "So you're not Dead?" "Not yet." Imeia answered. Gwendolyn turned around and saw a small blood stain on the front of Sureon's shirt, a small scratch, just where the athemae had pierced the Lady's chest. So that was the ghostly bond, that was what the Lady was using Sureon for: his unnatural life. Her fingers stroked the handle carefully as she turned her entire body to face the Prince, and prepared her hand to throw... |
| Gwendolyn was about to strike when vines wrapped around her and a mound of earth buried her up to her waist. Resster muttered, "Arod, get the prince for we must leave while we still can!" The three men ran off as Liscia and Imeia approached Gwendolyn. "Let me go this instant!" she snarled. Imeia laughed. "Thanks for the suggestion but no thanks. I have you right where I want you. Liscia, dear, isn't this pest right where she should be?" Liscia laughed. "Oh yes, m'lady. She's right where she belongs!" "How could you betray me like this, Liscia?" Liscia slapped Gwendolyn. "You betrayed me, you filthy bitch! Gwendolyn sneered, "If you love your prince so much then why are playing nice with this vile sorceress? Remember what she did!" _________________________________________________ Arod, Resster and Sureon ran until they reached the bank of an underground river. There they caught a deep breath for they had tired themselves running. "Arod, seize the prince!" Arod complied. Ignoring the prince's protests, Resster tied him up with ropes from his backpack. "Arod, return to Gwendolyn--she needs you. However keep her from Sureon unless I say otherwise or unless the Lady compels him to kill me." "Yes, sir." Arod left. "I have you bound, my prince, for you must answer my question before I can trust you. Why did your flesh receive a wound like that of the Lady?" "When she captured me, she transformed into a dragon. Her claws cut into me allowed her to suck out my lifeforce. For though she tends to age 100 times slower than the average mortal she stops aging altogether when she can tap into another's lifeforce." "I see. Your answer is sufficient. Can you forgive Arod and I for tying you up?" "Certainly. Just untie me now that you have confirmed my trustworthiness." And so Resster did. |
| Resster I went to check on Arod while Sureon went for Stone Heart. I found Arod laying wounded from he gashes of swordsmen. "Resster," Arod croaked, "Liscia has gone to the other side." "What?!" "She made a deal with the Lady of the Green Cloth. The Lady shall have the liberty to raid the frontier while leaving Esterine free. That way they can join forces against the heiress to County Pruwell." "Why would the prince go the Lady?" "He didn't. Liscia made the deal on her own initative. The Lady promised to stay away from the prince and Liscia promised to keep him from confronting the Lady." "Why would they join forces against this woman?" "This woman is descended from Cidalmon himself through her mother, the Countess of Pruwell. At the same time, she has a talent that enables her to fight the Lady of the Green Cloth. Should she kill the Lady and Prince Sureon as well, she could then take command of the Lady's forces by right of conquest and the Prince's inheritance by right of descent from Cidalmon." "Do you know who this woman is?" "Yes, I do. Gradniel took the Countess as a lover. She then gave birth to her heiress, Gwendolyn Macarlos, the same Gwen that is part of the foray." This news is very disturbing. It makes matters so much more difficult, I thought. In fact it makes matters ten times worse. |
Gwendolyn was in shock, unable to believe that Liscia had really gone over to the Lady. She stayed, hoping Liscai would reveal that this was a farce, a trick to catch the Lady off guard, but when Liscia raised a knife and held it to Gwendolyn's neck, the girl had had quite enough. She glared at Liscia furiously, and as she pulled them through the barrier between the worlds, she could almost hear the Green Lady screaming. Liscia crumpled to the ground as soon as they passed into the Realm of Death. Gwendolyn walked over to her and picked up up. "Why did you do it?" Liscia cried, "Why did you kill me?" "Why did you try to kill me?" Gwendolyn snarled, almost crying herself. "I never wanted to hurt you. I tried to help you." Liscia tried to jump at Gwendolyn but she was too weak. "You tried to kill him! You would have killed him!" "He is already dead... close enough to it." Gwendolyn turned away from the girl. "You aren't dead, Liscia. But you're staying here, so you can't hurt any of us anymore." Gwendolyn prepared to cross out of the realm but she turned at the last minute... "If that woman breaks down the barriers, if she hurts my home, I will come back. And I will kill you." Gwendolyn nodded sharply, and, blinking, landed next to Resster in the living world. She opened her mouth to speak and saw Arod... |
"This is insane. All I want is for Sureon to be safe." I paced, trying to think of a spell. Any spell to get me out of here. "I wonder if a translocation spell would work... A spell to transfer nothingness into existance..." I took a deep breath and gathered myself together. "Back to the realm which is true, back to life and what I must do." I felt myself floating, it was a strange sensation. The spell was working wonderfully, better than I could have hoped for. "Took you long enough." I shimmered back into reality, face to face with the Green Lady. "My apologies Lady." "So you've decided to stay with me?" "I have. New deal. You bring me my Prince, and I'll bring you whoever you want." I hoped Imeia wouldn't see through my bluff, I prayed for it... "The part-god. I want her. Preferably alive so I can use her essence." "Done." "You seem confident, Blue Maiden." "I am." "A maiden no longer." "So you finally see that I am no child?" "When you return with the half-god, I will bring the Prince back with my powers. You and he shall go to Esterine in peace." "I'll be back by tomorrow's eve." "Let us hope so." Shock ripped through my body, acceptance from my mentor... my mother... "You've grown into a beautiful woman Liscia. I'm, I'm proud of you. When you are reunited with your prince, we shall be a family." Imeia grinned widely. "We shall be a very powerful family, Mother." "Still you call me mother after all this? After all I've done to you?" "You're the only mother I've ever had, it is a title which I bestowed upon you. And it is a title I give you again. "No longer are you the Little Blue Maiden. Henceforth you shall be the Lady in Blue." "Of Air and Sea." I smiled. "Of Earth and Trees. Good luck my daughter." A tear fell down Imeia's cheek. I kissed her softly. "Good-bye." If Gwen or Resster causes my plan to go awry, it would be disatrous. I would be forced to stay with the Green Lady forever, forced to kill her. I knew that Gwen had only the best motives, but she wasn't the best at picking up bluffs... I prayed Imeia wouldn't pick up on this particular bluff. I almost felt bad that I would have to kill Imeia when this all ended, almost. |
| Resster, Gwen, and Arod walked towards the surface. Then Resster slowed his pace and turned around. His attention was fixated onto a building inhabited by bandits he recognized from his spying adventures. Entering the building's lobby, he heard conversation in an adjoining room. "Did za boss say, 'We's strikes za provinces of za Northwest March andza Waterfront of Esterine alongs with the Highland March of Telmago,'" asked one voice. "Zats right," confirmed the second voice. Who's "za boss"? wondered Resster. From his spying he knew "za boss" was not the Lady nor her knight (Prince Sureon) but rather an ally of hers. Resster had to rejoin Gwen and Arod. He'd want help in discovering who "za boss" was. On that day, my wedding day I turned the duke into a common fly and placed him by a garbage heap full of other flies. I told her that if she wished me to marry, she would have to find the groom first, said Liscia. Remembering her comment gave Resster an idea--"za boss" could be the duke. The Lady could have found him and restored him back to his human form. When Resster rejoined Gwen and Arod, he would ask them for help in discovering the truth. |
| Gwendolyn held her head in her hands... none of this made any sense. The Prince appeared to be on their side, but he was no longer alive. Though he may have believed that he was transfigured into a Dragon, Gwendolyn knew that he was dead and that meant that, sooner or later, she would have to kill him. Gwendolyn also was working hard to focus on Arod and Resster and Liscia. Liscia had left the limbo where Gwendolyn had placed her. Gwendolyn was slightly worried that Liscia might have realized that it was too easy to get out of that limbo realm she'd created. In fact, she'd sensed that surprise on Liscia's part when the spell had worked so well. And now Liscia's conversation with the Lady... it was so conflicting. The emotions didn't fit the words.. it didn't make any sense. When Liscia did leave Gwendolyn got her first clear reading... Liscia had been lying. She wasn't with the Green Lady... she was with us! That was when Gwendolyn realized that she'd been speaking aloud. "We have to find Liscia... she's going to do something stupid... she'd going to try to kill the Green Lady." "And only you can do that, right?" Imeia's voice sounded behind Gwendolyn. The girl turned and faced the witch. "Oh, I knew Liscia was lying... poor girl. She's grown into quite the witch but she's too honest for her own good." The witch laughed. "Now my dear, I think we have a problem. You want to kill me because I shook up your father's realm, and well, if I kill you then I have endless life. I don't know why leeching a god never occured to me." The Green Lady laughed cruelly. "Now my dear, are you going to surrender and I'll let Liscia have her prince... until she realizes that he's dead, and Resster can go in peace... and your shapeshifter..." The Green Lady snapped her fingers and Arod became a small pathetic squeeking mouse. The Green Lady picked the mouse up by the tail, it's legs wriggling. "Well, a shapeshifter always comes in handy. So, are you going to surrender or do I have to wreak heaven and hell to get you, taking extra special care to stomp on all your insignificant friends on my way!" |
I took a deep breath. Imeia was fully aware that I was lying. I knew it, and she knew it. But she didn't know that I was actually placing lies on top of lies. It was a complicated way of deception, and it seemed to be working in my favor... I cast a quick relocation spell, and arrived a few paces in front of Gwendolyn. Imeia! No! This complicates everything! Gwen saw me, but did nothing to let Imeia know that I was there. The Green Lady held Arod in her hand. He squirmed out of her grip, and she cursed. I took my chance. Coming up from behind the Lady, I placed my hands on either side of her face. She convulsed as my palms drew out the life force she had been feeding off of. Gwendolyn stood frozen, and Arod struggled to turn back to his actual form. I kept at my task. A white glow surrounded the Green Lady and she disappeared. "Wha-?" Gwen said. "Is she dead?" "No, but Sureon is." My head bowed. "I cut their bond. He may finally rest in the peace that he so thoroughly deserves." "I didn't know that you had that kind of power." "There are many hidden talents I have. I don't show others for fear that I may need a surprise attack at a later date. The Green Lady herself taught me that particular trick. It's simply a reversal of what she does. Imeia sucks the life from others, and I release that energy back to its' proper place. Originally it was for bringing Necromancers to submission; however, it seems to work very well against her." "But Imeia. She still lives." "Yes. Within her being she holds many lives. Sureon was only one. We may "kill" her twenty times, and she would still come back." I paused. "I had hoped that you and I could work together to kill her Gwen." "But you just said that she would still live after killing her." "Not if you send her to the Realm of Death." Gwen's eyes widened. "I see." She paused. "At that instant she needs between life and death." "Exactly. I drain her life essence-" "And I send her straight to Death." Gwen smiled. "It looks like we have quite the task in front of us." "Before we leave, I must say something." I paused. "I'm sorry, for lying. I hope that you will trust me." "I trust you Liscia. We are friends." "First and foremost." I looked over to Arod. Resster was at his side, attending him. "We shouldn't involve them." "Agreed." Gwen said. "Shall we kill the witch?" "Let's." That said, Gwendolyn took my hand and I took us back to Imeia's underground palace. This is going to be complicated. |
| Ermeld, Chairman of the Regency Council, approached his lord, the king of Esterine. "What is it, m'lord?" "Your highness, I present to you a gift..." With that the chairman stabbed the king repeatedly with a dagger. Then the chairman fled before the guards could seize with the aid of a smoke bomb. When Resster and Arod arrived at the royal palace this was the story they heard. The story so disturbed Resster that he could not sleep. Instead he paced the halls...and met a lady in red. "Psst...I have a little secret," the Lady whispered, "I killed the king." "That's impossible. The guards saw Lord Chairman Ermeld kill the king." The lady in red shapeshifted into Ermeld's form. Then she shifted back to her original form. Resster pushed her against the wall. "Who are you, lady?" he snarled. "I am Lady Julia of the Red Cloth. I am wife of Duke Rerdi. We serve the Queen of the Tunnel Kingdom." "You mean Imeia?" "Yes. Now let me go. I must leave." "No way." Julia pulled a smoke bomb out of her pocket and tossed it at Resster enabling her to escape... |
Gwendolyn took a deep breath, preparing to take Imeia and Liscia across the barrier, preparing for the headache that this much magic was going to give her. Liscia nodded, signalling that she was ready for Gwendolyn to shift them across realms. "Wait!" Gwendolyn gulped and jumped back. "No... I just... there's another one!" "Another what?" Liscia asked, bewildered. "It was Arod, he was flying around... an owl... he couldn't sleep... something was wrong... they're in Esterine." "Gwen, what are you babbling about?" Liscia reached over to grip Gwendolyn's shoulder firmly. "We have to kill Imeia, now. We'll deal with Esterine after." "No... there's something Dead there too. Not something that Imeia was feeding off of... there's another necromancer-witch." Realization shook Gwendolyn. "Liscia, how sure are you that this is Imeia?" "What?" Liscia slapped Gwendolyn across the face. "Gwen, pull yourself together. This is Imeia, we can kill her, why are you saying things like this." "Give me a minute, one minute, Liscia. In the Dream world, illusions can rarely be maintained... I took Arod there the first time I met him, and forced him to shift back to his form. Before we kill the Green Lady, let me take her to there. Then we'll see if I'm falling apart or if..." Gwendolyn didn't finish the sentence. Liscia nodded curtly. "Do what you want, but fast before she gets stronger." Gwendolyn nodded and, with a deep breath, moved all three to the Dream realm. Liscia gave a cry when she looked at the Green Lady... the woman was now younger, a vibrant red head, with a sharp hook nose and fuller lips... she was not the Imeia that Liscia had recognized. "How is this possible?" Liscia snapped. "She's Imeia... I felt it! She knew me!" "She's not Imeia," Gwendolyn bowed her head. "She's a shapeshifter and a necromancer... there are more out there. They're all linked to Imeia... they serve her, either as slaves or willingly but they do. She probably holds the people that they leech." Gwendolyn's lips tightened. "Liscia, I need you to calm down." The brunette nodded, bringing herself under control. "Resster and Arod just found another of the shapeshifters... we need to consult him before we decide what to do." |
This was getting more and more complicated as time wore on. "All right Gwen. Let's go find them." Of the trees, of the flame, and of the water. The trees feed the fire, and the fire, but the water always doused the fire. But there are so many things that the others did not know. For instance, Julia was no threat to Gwen or to me. She was cursed to never kill a being of magic. That was what made her so valuable to the Green Lady. Some made the mistake of thinking that Julia and Imeia were the same being, but they were not. In fact they were far from it, Julia was my older sister. "It troubles me that Julia is still helping Imeia. I had thought that she had gone back into the shadows." "Still helping?" "Yes, Julia is my elder sister." "You hold many secrets Liscia." "It's part of being a witch. Knowledge is power, and unknown knowledge is even more powerful..." "Witch have strange ways." "So do gods." I paused, there was more that Gwen needed to know. "Gwen, before we go. I should tell you something." "More secrets?" "Aren't there always?" "True enough." "There are truly six witches." "Six? First there were two, then three, now six?" "Imeia rules the trees and the earth. I rule the air and sea, while my sister Julia of the Red Cloth rules the flame and body. But there is more, each of us also rules something more." "There's more?" Julia is not a living creature, but you already know that. She is a ghost, but at the same time she has a physical being. This fact makes her true element the Shadows." "So, she is two witches in one?" "Yes, just as Imeia and I." "Both of you?" "Yes, Imeia's element is the Moon." "And yours is...?" "That's the problem, I don't know. No one does. I left the Green Lady's company before I could find out. I assume that it is the Stars. That would make sense..." |
| Julia While the fools Gwen and Liscia were fighting my image, I was smiting my lady's enemies. So far I had killed the King of Esterine. I also tried to entrap Resster but he had moved too fast for me. So now I hid in the shadows waiting to resume contact with my colleagues amongst The Twenty Assassins... Resster The Captain of the Palace Guard announced that Lord Chairman Ermeld had killed the king on behalf of The Twenty Assassins, a secret criminal syndicate responsible for assassination, assault, theft, and smuggling. The Captain explained that the Chairman left a note on the dead king with the insignia of The Twenty Assassins. |
Gwendolyn snuck away as quietly as she could. She left Liscia and Resster talking quietly and silently shifted back into the Dream World. Gradniel was by her side in a minute. "Gwendolyn." His greeting was cold. "I am sorry, Father," Gwendolyn apologized. "I did not know that it was this complicated.... Did you hear what Liscia told me?" "Yes." Gradniel's face was stoic. "Do you think that they are the Star? Two triangles, interlocked, connecting at three separate points, three separate people?" "The Star is a myth." Gradniel answered, holding up his hand to halt Gwendolyn's questions. "But there is some truth to it." The Dream God looked his daughter full in the face. "You know that the Star, the entire Star, is fated to fall to necromancy." "Liscia would never." Gwendolyn snapped. "She's lost Sureon, she's lost everything. All she's got left is to fight for what's right." "Her sister complicates things. As does Imeia. Liscia will fall unless you prevent it. Stop her before she can fail, Gwendolyn, if you want to save that world." Gwendolyn scowled defiantly. "If you want to save that world, and everyone in it." |
Liscia... Liscia... A familiar voice called out on the night wind. Come to us my sister. You are the Stars. I am the Night, along with the lovely Moon. Be one with us. You belong. "No, I can't!" I was right. My true element was the Stars. The joining light in midnight hours. Not as bright as the Moon, or as dark as the Night. But the Stars were everywhere. "All I have to do is join them. Be one..." Gwendolyn appeared out of nowhere. She noticed me walking away from camp. "Liscia? Where are you going?" I didn't hear her... All I heard was my sister. Liscia... Liscia... My darling sister. The soothing voice from my childhood calling out. Come to us my sister. You are the Stars. I am the Night, along with the lovely Moon. Be one with us. We are inseperable. We are true family. |
| "Liscia? Where are you going?" Gwendolyn asked before Liscia disappeared into the shadows. "Gwendolyn!" shouted Resster. "What is it?" "The Green Lady has doubtless obscured the location of Liscia. We'll need help. We need to report to the Captain of the Guard." "Of course." Entering into the throne room, Resster with Gwendolyn behind him said, "Captain, the problem we face is a conspiracy led by witches. They can shift shape. One of them kidnapped the Crown Prince in the form of a dragon; another killed the king in the form of the chairman of the privy council." "Do you have a witness?" "I call on Gwendolyn Macarlos as my witness." "Gwendolyn, do you confirm what he said?" "Yes." "Very well. I know that The Twenty Assassins are a conspiracy going against us. Tell me what evidence you have that they are led by shapeshifting witches." |
Gwendolyn quickly began to loose her temper with all this talk. "Liscia is on her way to join her sisters and become the greatest force of necromancy in the land and you ask for evidence?" Her tone was fierce and dangerous. The captain looked at the young woman skeptically. She looked like a local ragamuffin, and he warned her to show a little more respect when she spoke to her elders. "Respect?" Gwendolyn laughed derisively. "Resster, I'm fast tiring of your friend's demands. Tell him that he can either help us or not, either way, we do not have the time to waste here." Resster opened his mouth to try to calm Gwen she waved her hand and the Captain fell rigid to the floor. Resster looked at Gwendolyn in horror. "I thought that you didn't have performance magic." Gwendolyn looked at her hand suspiciously. It was shaking. "If I have magic here... then... then there's something for me to fight. The Star has joined." Resster shook his head. "Liscia has joined her sisters. They've turned her." |
"You've come to us at last Sister Star." The Night said sweetly. "We've missed you, but we are one now." "Yes we are one." "But you cannot join us yet." The Moon said. "But why Sisters? I'm confused." "You must embrace necromancy." The spoke together. "You must steal a soul. The soul of a god." Don't do it Liscia. She's your friend. The closest thing you've ever had to a best friend. I felt it now, the spell weaving through my mind and body. Most of me wanted to be a part of the unbroken bond of Sisters, but the ret of me wanted what I had. Friendship, trust, loyalty. "S-She's my friend..." "No, she is your enemy. You must kill her." The Night said. My body flew backwards as they recast the mind control spell. "I will seperate the god from her immortal soul." "And we will help you Star. You are our Sister after all." They said. |
| Gwendolyn and Resster were at their wit's end. Imeia and Julia had captured Liscia to form the Star of Necromancy, the power that according to prophecy would remove the royal family. Indeed it had come to pass that Imeia had killed the Prince, Liscia sent him to the netherworld, and Julia had killed the king. How then could Gwen and Resster win? Eventually, Resster and Gwen fell asleep. That night, Resster was awoken by the noise made by the hoofs of Agell, a famous centaur sage like his father and grandfather. "Son of Lord Brerst Morrogga, come with me," the centaur said. (Lord Brerst Morrogga was a lord of the kingdom of Esterine who had died ten centuries ago. He was not actually Resster's father rather he was a distant ancestor, the founder of the Brerst clan. Thus the centaur's salutation--"Son of Lord Brerst Morrogga"--was a metaphor for descent from that lord.) Walking away so as not to disturb a sleeping Gwen, the centaur said, "Have you heard of the prophecy my grandfather made concerning the Star of Necromancy?" "Yes." "Please recite it." From deep in the ground of the barbarous north, comes the Star of Necromancy. The Star of Necromancy makes the dead radiant. The dead arise to serve the Star. The Star wipes the royal family from the earth. The Star arises to seizepower. "Yes, that is the first stanza. Now hear the second stanza: From the district of Morrogga, the champion emerges. He joins the daughter of Pruwell. They fight the Star in vain. For we will wipe them away! Resster pulled his sword out of his scabbard and held to the centaur's throat. "What do you mean 'we will wipe them away'?!?" The centaur laughed. "M'lady has captured Gwen's family. Unless she turns herself over to m'lady, m'lady shall hang them!" "Why don't we exchange you for her family?" "Do you think that either of you can keep me prisoner? I cannot be killed for Gwen's sister Melanie killed me as I killed her. Yet it pleases m'lady to animate this corpse with my spirit." "Do you think that the Star will win? Do you know what you say? '...it pleases m'lady to animate this corpse with my spirit.' Is your lady a goddess that she can keep the spirits of dead without a bad consequence? Is she a goddess that she may exercise power over the powers of life and death?" "Enough of this prattle. I am Lady Julia Rerdi of the Star of Necromancy! I am not your prisoner!" Then she walked forward so that Resster's sword went through her neck. Yet as soon as the sword passed the flesh it severed that flesh healed. "You see, m'lady's magic animates this corpse. Now tell Gwen about this encounter and what I said that she may think it over. I'll return in two days. If Gwen does not hand herself over then I'll come the next day, the day after that day, the day after that day and so on. And for each day that Gwen does not surrender herself after the two days she has to think the matter over, we shall execute one of her family until such time that her family is no more save for Gradniel and his kin, the gods, for as they are gods we do not have them. And finally remember that even if Gwen's family is wiped out we can still seize Gwen making her defiance and the resulting deaths in her family all in vain!" With that Julia left and Resster woke Gwen and told her what happened and everything that Julia said... |
Gwendolyn's head reeled at the news. The Star had her family... her mother's family. She hadn't seen them since she was little, since she had left earth to live with her father. She hadn't known, until Resster told her, that she was even an heiress to the county Pruwell. "This isn't about you, Resster." She said softly. "I understand that you want to help, but this is my family. I will save them." "They'll kill you." Resster said, holding onto Gwen's arm. "And I need you to help me fight them." Gwendolyn looked down, "I know what I should do. But I also know what I have to do. They might kill me, I might get away. But I will not just stand here and wait for them to kill off my kin one by one. Those are innocent people." Gwendolyn tried to shake him from her arm. He flew into the wall and fell with a sickening thud. She looked shocked at her own power. For a moment her impulse was to try and help him or heal him. But she turned away and ran out of the room, straight into Arod. He caught her as though he had been waiting for her. "Gwendolyn, I need to tell you something." "What? I have to go!" She tried to push past him, but he held her firmly. She swung her arm out to send him flying as she had thrown Resster but he didn't move. "Why... why didn't you..." "I knew you a long time ago, Gwendolyn. When you lived in Pruwell. Your mother knew that there would be a time when you... when someone would use your family against you. And she knew that you would be alone, but she didn't want you to be." Arod pulled an amulet from his shirt. "Look, she gave this to me. It lets me find you. She told me to follow you, to make sure that you would have someone with you." "You've been there, Arod." Gwendolyn reached up and strolked his hair. "You did what she asked. But now... now I have to face the Star and I can't take you. There's no point." Arod nodded. "That wasn't what I was going to tell you, Gwendolyn. The truth is, I was sent to be your friend but I... I'm only human. Forgive me." Arod bent his head and kissed her softly. "Please don't do anything stupid, Gwendolyn. Please, don't die." With that he shifted into a leopard and ran off faster than Gwendolyn could follow. She stood, frozen, trying to take it all in. Then, with a deep breath, she began to run again. With her mind she searched for a connection with Liscia... Liscia was not all evil. There must still be a way to stop her, to use her, to save Gwendoyn's family. |
So many images, sounds, feelings, all were ripping through my mind. It was maddening, having so many things careening out of countrol in my mind. I couldn't concentrate... Couldn't descipher them... Who am I? What am I? You are the Star. No, that's not right... You are the Star. You are one with us. No! I'm Liscia. I am no pawn in your stupid game. My eyes snapped open. The spell shattered. My constant questions had worn down the barrier, just enough for me to remember myself. I lay in a plush bed in a darkly lit room. Julia jumped back when saw that I was awake, and no longer under the influence of their powerful spell. "Imeia! We have to cast the spell again." Julia cried. "Imeia? Where are you?" "Sister." I spit the foul the word from my mouth as I sat up. "Liscia, you are ill. Your enemy, Gwendolyn... She poisoned you." "No. You cast a spell on me. You an Imeia are so intent on the Star of Necromancy, but I won't be a part of it." Julia's temper flared. "You are destined to be the last point to the Star! Don't you get it yet? You are the final piece. Quit fighting us, then you can rule with us." "Good-bye, Julia. You know, you can't kill me because of the curse, but I can kill you. All I have to do if figure it out. So, Sister, you will be hearing from me... soon." I cast a quick translocation spell. I was almost to my destination, but a hard wind knocked my spell askew. I spiraled downward and hit the earth with a sickening snap. I heard a scream, and quickly realized that I was the one screaming. My back, it was broken. Imeia peered over me. "You can't fight us, if you can't move." Pained ripped through my body, before I passed out. I let out a final spell. Only two words, but hopefully it would be heard. Gwen... Help... |
| Gwen woke up in a bed. "Where am I?" "In the royal palace. I am now Prince Regent," said Resster Brerst. "How did I get here?" "After your temper tantrum whereby you abused me, I was called to the palace by the Privy Council, where the Council declared me to be Prince Regent. I then ordered that you be captured and sedated as you are too dangerous to be up and about." "Resster, Liscia is calling for help. Perhaps if I help her, she can help me. Let me go!" Julia emerged from the shadows. "You needn't bother, Gwen. Liscia has passed out," said Julia, "now hand her over. Her two days have passed..." "I must also demand the return of Liscia and an end to attacks on Esterine," said Resster. "In return for..." "In return for a pledge not to seek vengeance. In return for a pledge not to attack you should you busy yourselves attacking others," replied Resster. "Very well. I will bring up the offer with m'lady. I believe that she shall accept your offer for the cooperation of a wise prince such as yourself can be useful..." Julia said. Her voice decreased in volume as she faded away. "There you are, Gwen. You ran off to trade yourself in and I just helped you do so!" exclaimed Resster, "and I must sedate you before you can fully access your powers." Resster called out "Doctor". An old man entered the room. "Here I am." "Sedate this woman. I don't want her to cause trouble." "Yes, sir." The doctor like other doctors in Esterine had access to syringes. He pulled out a syringes for his medicine bag and fulled it with a sedative. "Time to sleep, little girl." Gwen tried to get up but Resster pushed her back down. The doctor then placed the syringe into Gwen's arm and released the sedative. Gwen fell asleep within a few seconds afterwards. |
Gwendolyn did not know how long she was asleep for. She presumambly had been carried away from the castle to where the Star was. When she woke up she found chains around her wrists and feet and a blindfold to stop her from using her powers. By the cold stone beneath her and the athemae blade she could feel against her thigh, Gwendolyn knew that the Star was planning to kill her. She tried to shift realms but was bounced back, her chains still held her. "Liscia!" she hissed, "Liscia, wake up!" In the back of her mind she could see Liscia, stirring slightly in her sleep. Furious at being trapped Gwendolyn lashed out with her new powers but she only hit a wall around her. Careful not to cut her leg on the athemae, Gwendolyn tried to sit up and found that she could. She could even move to the edge of the stone to touch the crystal wall around her. She screamed at the top of her lungs and cowered as the sound bounced back at her. But in the echoes she heard Gradniel's voice... "It is time." Horror hit Gwendolyn, "No! She is trying to redeem herself! She won't do it!" She screamed. Gwendolyn could feel her father's sigh. "There is only one other way." "What?" Gwendolyn asked quietly, but she already knew. If they could not remove Liscia then they had to remove the god. And there were only a very few ways of doing that. Gwendolyn could take her own life before Liscia had the chance, or she could throw away her mortal heritage and be locked in the immortal realms forever. "I can't..." She cried. "Please, no." "It is you or Liscia... the choice is yours, Gwendolyn. But know this, I will kill Liscia before I let you kill yourself. For you will not go to the Realm of the Dead. You will be lost to oblivion and I will not let that happen to my daughter." The ground shook beneath Gwendolyn as she felt her father's anger. "Please," he said softly, "join me. Come back home with me. Daughter..." "Please no..." Gwendolyn begged, crying. "Make your decision quickly, daughter." Gradniel advised, slipping away. "The Star is coming." |
| "Liscia, wake up, my daughter," whispered Imeia. "Mmmmmmumph," moaned Liscia. Imeia tapped Liscia with her wand. "Awake!" Liscia woke up. "Why am I?" asked a puzzled Liscia. "You are free. The rise of the Star shall wait for another day," intoned Imeia. "Another day?" "It appears that you are not the Second Apprentice needed to form the Star. For if you were then the Star would be made invicible as that would be its destiny," Julia said calmly. "Instead you shall return to Esterine with the kin of Gwendolyn. She left to trade herself in so I took the initative of making the trade on her behalf. Not coincidentally, I've also been able to make peace with her unwilling help," explained Resster. "Go on, sister. It appears that your destiny is in Esterine. We shall wait until the real Second Apprentice appears that she may fulfill the destiny of the Star with us. As for you, you are not the Second Apprentice for your destiny is apart from ours. And now we must turn our attention onto Gwendolyn to take her as a sacrifice for our immortality!" cried Imeia. She and Julia walked towards Gwen who was chained amongst the ruins of a castle along Esterine's borders on the side opposite to Esterine. "Leave Gwen to her destiny. It is time to go home," said Resster. |
Gwendolyn saw them coming for her. Necromancing her wouldn't forge the Star, it wouldn't destroy the world, but it would give these evil witches the greatest force of darkness imaginable: a god turned pure evil at their whim. Gwendoyn waited for them to lower the wall around her and then she threw off her magical cloak. The witches cowered from the extreme light. Gwendolyn stood, wearing a long draping robe belted tightly to her thin frame. Her hair curled and coiled around a shining white-gold crown. In her hand she held a small orb, swirling with color. "Release me!" She cried in a voice that rocked the mountains, shaking even Liscia and Resster to the ground, far off as they were. "If you do not, I'll blow all three of us into oblivion!" Gwendolyn crept out from behind the small rock that the dreamlike projection she had created stood upon. She was shivering and shaken and still blindfolded. As quietly as she could she slipped away into a nearby wood, collapsing onto the soil, using the last bit of her energy to blast the magic from the apparition, throwing it at the Star with such force that it knocked them unconscious. Unconscious, but still alive. Yet Gwendolyn, passed out just within the wood's borders, did not have the energy to fight them to the death. |
I'm not evil... I'm not a necromancer or part of the Star. Just a witch. A simple good witch. Words could not express my happiness at this news. Never before had I been so elated. I wasn't a part of an all-powerful evil trio. I didn't have to see Imeia or Julia ever again. I could leave, go to a remote country and start over. I had nothing more to loose and only the world to gain. But what had happened to my broken back... Probably a trick, a spell of Imeia's. I turned to Resster, who was a little shocked by the recent earthquake. I knew it was some display of Gwen's godly power. That much, at least, was apparent. "Good-bye Resster." I spoke softly to him. "What-" He started, but I didn't wait around. I cast an invisibility spell and swiftly after I cast that spell, I cast a magic cloaking spell. No one would be able to detect my presence... magic or mortal. I needed time to think, reflect. ************************* Now that I wasn't fighting to be the exact opposite of my mother as I had been doing my entire life, what was I fighting for? Was I just Liscia? Or something else entirely. "How can my noninvolvement with the Star be true?" I asked not knowing that I had spoken out loud. "Hullo out there." I silently cursed myself. Her I was keeping up a perfect visage of stealth and silence, and I mess it up by talking to myself. An old woman walked through the dank woods with a bright lantern. I un-cast the spells and showed myself to her. "Blue Maiden, it is you, is it not?" "How do you know me?" "I am the Seer, the Oracle..." She paused. "My visions told me of your coming to my woods. The Star is forming." The Seer went into an odd state, and began speaking, in a chant-like tone. From deep in the ground of the barbarous north, comes the Star of Necromancy. The Star of Necromancy makes the dead radiant. The dead arise to serve the Star. The Star wipes the royal family from the earth. The Star arises to seize power. From the district of Morrogga, the champion emerges. He joins the daughter of Pruwell. They fight the Star in vain. For the Star will wipe them away! From places unknown comes the Maiden in Blue, child of untapped power. The will of the Goddess begins the battle. The strength of the Champion sustains it. But the magic of the Child is needed to win. Pure light is created, the The Seer smiled. "The Lady of the Green Cloth was right. Your destiny does await." "No. I'm finished with them." I cast a relocation spell, and landed in a place I had never set eyes on before. "I won't go back. They can find another witch! I'm sorry Resster, Gwen..." |
| The delegates walked into the palace. The Curia Regis (Royal Council) had been called into session by Prince Regent Resster Brerst. The Curia Regis was a committee composed of noblemen, royal officials, and elders. Duke Augustus Rerdi of Schelden walked into the meetinghall. "You, you traitor!" exclaimed Resster, "Guards, arrest this traitor!" The duke protested, "But I've come to help!" "Oh, really?" "My friend, I'm afraid that Queen Imeia has had a misunderstanding. When her renegade apprentice employed dark magic to transform me, she took Prince Sureon as a lover. She therefore acted to stop a threat. Now that the renegade apprentice foolish tampered with the Queen's magic, Prince Sureon has sadly disappeared. So now her quest for power has led her to join forces with that sorceress from Pruwell." "Do you expect me to believe such garbage?" "I understand your misgivings. After all, my wife did kill the king. Well, my wife and I did believe that the King, the renegade apprentice, and the sorceress of Pruwell had combined forces to destroy us and to destroy her mentor, Queen Imeia. Yet when I heard that a loyal servant of the King, namely yourself wanted peace, I realized that the King was not involved. No, my friend, the threat all along has been the renegade apprentice Liscia Gurin and the sorceress of Pruwell Gwendolyn Marcalos!" "Resster, don't believe any of this hogwash!" shouted Gwen. Resster saw Gwen coming in from a hallway. "Is it really hogwash? If it's hogwash, then why are you so arrogant?!?" "Resster, I'm not arrogant..." Resster cut her off. "Oh yes, you are. Only someone arrogant will think nothing of knocking her friends unconscious as if they were ragdolls. Or perhaps I was never your friend. You never did accept my help even before your folks were kidnapped. Gwen, a rude woman who throws people around like ragdolls must considered very arrogant indeed. Your attitude towards me seems to confirm the Duke's assertions." |
************************************************* beg pardon for the absence... I was in the caribbean (yay!) and only got back today (not so yay!) anyway... sorry for the delay ************************************************* "How dare you!" Gwendolyn cried. "I've risked my life, my realm, everything to help you and your foray. I could have killed you the second you looked at me but I didn't. I suppose my father was right. Mortals will never understand!" She strode over to Resster to look him straight in the eye. "I could kill you now. Or worse, I could trap you and make you watch your worst nightmares over and over until your body rots and your world decays and all that you love is dead and gone. And you call me arrogant because I bumped you around a little bit to stop the greatest evil the world has ever faced from obtaining a god as their slave. Now who is arrogant, Resster. Good god, are you so important that five minutes when you are unconcious is worth the death of everything good in this world. Well heaven forbid I should interfere." Gwendolyn seemed to have grown taller as she raged. Her plain clothes had lightened into silvery white and atop her head sat a small circlet. She stood, tall and radiant, watching as everyone in the room fell to their knees except for Resster. She glared at him, fury scorching the stones at her feet. "I am withdrawing from your foray, Resster Brerst. Good luck finding Liscia by yourself. From now on I'll deal with the Star as I see fit, and if you cross me again, don't expect me to be kind." With that she flung out her arms, toppling the walls of the palace leaving the council standing bemused in the rubble of stones. "Whoops." She shrugged sarcastically, and disappeared. |
Sorry about my last addition guys. I make a typo. The last line of the prophecy should read Pure light is created. I wandered aimlessly, too tired for tears and too angry to stay still. So I walked with no direction and no purpose. The sun rose on a new day and fell to bring forth the night. At one point, I felt the distinct aura of a strong magical force. It had to be Gwendolyn, but I didn’t care. As the next day dawned, I came upon a clear lagoon. Immediately, I slipped from my dress and dove into it. A rush of familiarity came upon me. This lagoon was my element. A sharp jolt went through my body. A major release of energy was let forth. But it wasn’t one single being, but three. Two of them had magical signatures like my own, meaning they had to be witches. Obviously, Imeia and Julia but the other I didn’t recognize. Not a witch, or a goddess, like Gwen... I couldn’t place that power. My first thought was to get out of the water, but instinct told me not to. I was fully connected here. I took a calm breath and slid underwater. Focusing entirely on that source of power, it finally hit me. The third one of the Star. I don’t know why I didn’t realize it earlier. Everyone assumed that the third part of the Star was another witch. Imeia killed their victims. Julia brought them back from the realm of death. The last would have to keep them looking the same as the looked when they were alive and, in a sense, be able to project life on the victims.... That way it formed a perfect unending circle of necromancy. There was only one person I knew of who had that kind of power. The one person who had always had the right answer. The solution that, in the end, always led us to failure in our quest. It was Arod. |
| Resster issued a decree "freezing" the assets of both the Countess of Pruwell and the Duke of Schelden along with their families until their loyalty to the Crown was verified. Once he "freezed" their assets, they could not be used. Instead the Crown would provide them a pension to supply their needs, with the pension being taken out of the money they possessed. If this money ran out, then the Crown would sell the assets and use the revenue from the sales to fund their pensions. Resster sighed. He tended to be more suspicious of the Duke but he could not forget what Gwen had said "if you cross me again, don't expect me to be kind". He could not ignore threats though he was certain that Gwen would be angry when she learned that the assets of her and her family were frozen. Resster just hoped that the freezing of the assets of the Duke and his family would serve as somewhat of a consolation to her... |
Gwendolyn's body shook, her head splitting apart. She could hear people crying, calling her but she didn't know who they were. Blindly she followed the sound. She collapsed, clutching her head to stop it from splintering into a thousand pieces. A cool hand touched her forehead. The crying, screaming, begging, shouting voices died out and she opened her eyes hesitantly. She looked up to see her father and the rolling scenery of the Realm of Dreams. "You brought me here?" "You fell asleep, unconscious." Gradniel helped her to her feet. "I will not ask you to stay." Gwendolyn was surprised. "No begging, or pleading, or doomsday talk?" "No," Gradniel looked down his robes. "Things have been set in motion. Your friends need you. Your mother's family needs you. Your.." "What about them? What's happened?" Gwendolyn snapped. "Resster Brerst froze your money. They have nothing to live on without what you normally provide." Gradniel caught his daughter when she was halfway out of the realm. "Easy, they are not starving. They just have less than they're accustomed to." He waited for his daughter's cursing to die down. "Listen, you must find Imeia's apprentice. She's disappeared, and even if Brerst is no longer your ally, she may be of some use." Gradniel clasped his daughter tight. Gwendolyn was surprised. The wispy dream king had never appeared more than a shifting shadow, a voice, a spirit of a father rather than the physical reality but his hold was strong and loving. She had barely begun to return the embrace when he pushed her away, out of the realm, his last words quiet as a whispering breeze. "Gods bless, may the trials not break you." "But may they break your fall." She finished for him, finding herself in the forest where she had fallen. She sighed and began to scry for Liscia. |
| Gradniel learned from the king of the gods where Liscia was. Gradniel told Gwen to help her in finding Liscia. Gwen walked to where Liscia's dress lay on the side of the lagoon. She likewise removed her clothes and placed them next to Liscia's clothes. Diving in she met Liscia as she swam back to the shore of the lagoon. "Gwen, I need to tell you something," Liscia said. "What?" "I'll tell later alongside the shore of the lagoon where we will be safe." Swimming back to the shore, they saw a smirking man whom they did not know standing by the clothes. Laughing, he said, "What is this? Two naked women all together? You must be lesbians!" Then he ran off with their clothes. The two women increased the speed at which they swam to catch up. Upon reaching the shore, they searched for the man who had their clothes. "Up here!" shouted the man with their clothes. He stood upon a sturdy branch of a large tree twenty feet above the ground! "Give us back our clothes!" the two women shouted in unison. "First obey my commands! As the two of you are lesbians, I command you to amuse by having sex with one another!" Gwendolyn shouted, "How dare you make such an outrageous demand?!? Do you think it is funny? Since you feel confident enough to make demands, let me show you who really has the power!" With that, she started to pull him into the Dream Realm. He prevented Gwen from succeeding by closing his eyes. He turned around, opened his eyes, and picked up a torch he had attached to the tree. Holding the clothes over the torch, he shouted, "You will use no more tricks or I will burn your clothes, you foul witch. As for your colleague, I command her to climb back down. I will not have her to take me unawares!" After Liscia climbed back down, the man said, "There's a good girl! Now where were we? Ah yes, you dykes were going to have sex for my amusement. For through obedience to my commands, you fucking bitches are acknowledging me as your lord!" |
| Gwendolyn's blood boiled. She glared at the man holding her clothes and reached out her hand. He was still smirking when the ground began to ripple and shake beneath him. He staggered to the side but the crack opening in the ground only followed him. He began to run but the earth opened beneath his feet and he began to slide down. Gwendolyn stepped over to the edge to watch the dark speck fall into the rolling orange waves beneath. She brought her hands together and closed the abyss before turning back to Liscia. Liscia was standing where she had been, staring at Gwendolyn. "You don't have active powers." She said finally, watching as Gwendolyn conjured up some robes. "Some things change." The goddess offered a pile of robes to Liscia, shrugging apologetically. "I can only conjure things from my Realm and, well, this is apparently the stuff of dreams." Gwendolyn offered a small smile, which Licia returned as she ducked into the flowing white robe. The dresses swirled and moved, dancing in an imaginary breeze. Gwendolyn held out her hand and pulled out a small crown. This one was smoky white glass and it fit over her hair so gently that it amplified, rather than tamed the flying waves. The Goddess smiled. "I'm supposed to help you, Liscia. So what can I do for you?" |
"How did you find me?" "With a little help." Gwen smiled. "Have you figured it out yet?" "What?" Gwen said, confused. "The final piece of the puzzle. The third part of the Star." "You know who she is?" "I know who he is." "He? As in a man? Are there male witches?" "Yes Gwen, but it's a little different with men. Witches must learn their craft, they study for years to perfect the arts. But men are another story entirely. Male witches are born with a single specific gift. They go by many names-Psychic, Cleric, Bard, and Shapeshifter being the most rare of them all." Liscia bowed her head sullenly. Realization hit Gwen like a ton of bricks and she was soon hysterical. "No, you're wrong Liscia. You've been wrong before and you're wrong now!" "Earlier you asked how you could help me. But to help me, you need to help yourself... I'm sorry, but you need to do this on your own. I'll have no part in it. I'm finished." Liscia cast a simple relocation spell, covering it quickly with a magic defection coat so that no one magical could find her. As she left the clearing, Gwendolyn sunk to her knees. The goddess was beginning to understand. |
| Gwen went her mother's home to go and rethink what she should do next. At her mother's home she saw her mother and a man talking on the couch. "There's Gwen," Gwen's mother said to the man. The man stated, "Your mom has told me a little bit about you. And I suppose that you want to know a little bit about me. Well I'm Reginald Dornalov, Captain of His Majesty's Secret Police." "Secret Police?" asked Gwen. "What business do the Secret Police have here?" "Well, based on we've heard, you're a conspirator against our late King, may the gods rest his soul, and a murderer who used witchcraft to bury a man alive." |
Gwen was too dispirited to even fight them. But she didn't want to use her new powers. She barely even wanted to stand. They put her in a prison cell and she slumped gratefully to the floor, staring blankly at the stone wall in front of her. She wondered what the penalty was for conspiracy if the King was dead... was it still treason? She supposed she'd be killed somehow but how? and when? A part of her mind cared, the rest didn't. It was only when a strong pair of arms embraced her that she looked up. Her small nose contacted Arrod's dark shining hair and she found her pale cheek against his tan one. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed. He held her close. "Why didn't you run? You stupid, stupid girl." He whispered into her hair, sitting down on her pallet and pulling her into his arms. "Stupid, stupid." When she'd stopped crying enough to think she pulled away. "You have to go." "It's ok, Gwendolyn. I'll shift out with you... why haven't you shifted out?" Gwendolyn shook her head. He stepped forward and Gwendolyn's mind swam with the memories of their last fleeting kiss. "I told you I was only human, Gwendolyn." "That's why you have to go." "It's why I'm going to stay." He leaned forward and kissed her, pressing her tight up against his body and holding her firmly there. She couldn't protest as he showered kisses on her lips, chin, nose, eyes, forehead, cheek, and then found her lips again. She allowed herself to forget that she had been endowed with new powers for one purpose: to prevent the Star from recreating. And to do that, she was supposed to kill Arrod. |
Liscia couldn't believe what Resster was doing. Only now was she seeing the reprecussions his actions were having. She cast an Astral Projection spell. It was a difficult one and she needed to be careful how she used it. Liscia alked the Astral Plane, coming near to where Resster was. Now the Astral Plane is a strange place. It borders the Dream Realms and is in reality a part of dreams themselves. She found Resster in the middle of a dream. She stayed back and just watched it proceed. "Congratulations Prince Resster." A hooded woman said as she placed a hand on his cheek. She slid it sensually down his throat. "Thank you for your help milady. Your information reguarding the traitors was helpful." "Anything for my prince." She lowered her hood. "But unfortunately you have outlasted your usefulness." A dagger slipped soundlessly into Resster's stomach. He dropped, but did not die. "Ahh my dear. Now you shall bleed to death. I do love this part best." If only Liscia could see the womans face... Then she would know. Was this merely Resster's dream? Or was it a vision of things to come...? The scene faded and Liscia saw Resster asleep in his bed. His brow was furrowed and heavy laden with sweat. "You dispicable pile of filth." Lisica spat as her Astral form glided into the Prince Regent's room. Resster awoke with a start. "Guards!" "They can do nothing to me. They cannot even touch me." Liscia said. "But I can still cast a few spells in this form." "I will have you arrested and thrown in the dungeons with Gwen. You are a traitor!" "I am no traitor. To be a traitor, one must have first been loyal to the throne. The only one of royal blood who I ever followed was Sureon. You should know that. We have been through so much together. You, Gwen and I... we have overcome so many obstacles." "The foray was meaningless." "What evil haunts your once noble mind?" "I have duties now." "You had duties before. You were my friend. We were a good team. No, we were the best team. I don't understand what has happened to you, but you need to fix all the evil you've done. Gwen needs you. I need you to be the friend you once were. We were there for you when you needed us, now it's your turn." That said, Liscia faded into the darkness, leaving Resster alone with her words. |
| Gwendolyn Macarlos was frustrated. Arod tol'Wyran, her lover, had left her after they discovered that the Secret Police had rendered teleportation magic ineffective at winning escape. Apparently they allowed people to transport into the cell only so as to trap them. Now fortunately for Arod he was a shapeshifter and as such was able to escape as a mouse, promising that his associates would help her. Fat chance thought Gwen. The last people to help her would be Imeia and Julia. Even if they got her out, they would probably be more cruel than the Secret Police. A guard opened a slot in Gwen's cell. "Hand over your clothes so that they can be washed. Alternate clothes will be provided." Gwen took her clothes off and handed them to the guard. The guard handed her a cloth bikini top and a thong. "Are you kidding?" asked Gwen. The guard said, "The Captain will come by soon. You can wear those clothes or you can wear no clothes." Then the guard walked away. Infuriated, Gwen put on the top and the thong. As the guard said the captain soon arrived. Two guards come with him and escorted Gwen to a larger room where the captain and Gwen both sat down. The guards then stood at each side of the room's door after shutting it. "Why am I dressed with nothing but a top and a thong?" asked Gwen. "Milady, your modesty is no longer a relevant issue. Rather the relevant issue is now what your fate shall be. You will be tried and most probably be found guilty. Or..." "Or what?" Gwen asked impatiently. "As Captain of the Secret Police, I have a lot of power. I can save your life if I promise to insure your good conduct. In return I will need a favor." "What is this favor that you want from me?" "I have had four wives and ten concubines since this year began six months ago. Since then I have wanted to have at least half as many wives as I have concubines. So the favor I want from you is for you to become my fifth wife." Author's Note: A concubine is a servant who serves her master sexually. |
Gwendolyn's mouth fell open. She couldn't breathe. The captain stared at her appreciatively, making her feel small and dirty. "Do you know who I am?" She asked. He nodded calmly. "And I know about the Star. And I don't care. I have my own interests... and you are one of them." Gwendolyn slapped him across the face. He only grinned and held her to him. "Would marrying me be that much worse than death?" He asked. She fought him, pushing away and curling into a tiny ball in the corner of the cell. The Captain's reaction was lustful rather than angry. "I'll be back tomorrow." He said ominously as he left. Gwendolyn didn't move. She managed to curse Resster fluently for hours before her mind ran dry and she was forced to consider the next day... |
"Oh Gwen how do you find yourself in these situations?" Liscia said. "Clever trick Liscia, using your Astral form." Gwen said. "Trick? Why it's nothing of the sort my friend." Liscia laughed, as did Gwen. "What happened? I thought maybe my talk with Resster would have helped." "I don't know what has happened to him." "I know. He's nothing like the man he used to be.... But none of that matters. What matters is getting you out." "I can't." "You are one of the most powerful people I know, you can do anything! So get off of your rear end and figure it out. Whatever is holding you back, get rid of it." "But Liscia-" "No! Just stop. If you don't get out of here, then the whole world is doomed to fall under the Star's shadow. Please Gwendolyn. We all need you." |
| In Esterine the royal family had to be one of the "high families" descended from the god Cidalmon. Besides the House of Arbosburg, family of the deceased king and holders of the Principality of Arbos, there are high families throughout the kingdom: the House of Macarlos in Pruwell County, the House of Garrep in Larsdin County, the House of Rerdi in Schelden Duchy, the House of Derret in Derreddo Duchy, the House of Ebbern in Kebber County, the House of Dargin in the Dargin Coastal Arc, and the House of Almeddy in the Royallagath Coastal Arc (so called because the Royal Family of Lagath gave Almeddy the land after he married a princess of that family). These were the high families of Esterine and all could potentially lay claim to the Crown. On the other hand, Resster could also lay claim to the Crown for the last duke of Morrogga had had a daughter who had married the King. As the Duke was also chief of the Brerst clan, the marriage of his daughter had given the Brerst clan a claim to the throne. So Resster could lay claim to the Crown or Gwen's mother could...well, perhaps Gwen's trial could wait...lest the House of Macarlos seek revenge for the imprisonment of one of their kinswomen... |
Resster hesitated on the cold stone steps. He drew in a deep breath. As protected as he knew he was, he didn't like to face Gwendolyn. He knew that she hadn't fought when his men had arrested her but that was no guarantee that she wouldn't attack this time. And he remembered the castle that she had destroyed in a fit of temper. No, he wasn't happy about seeing her again. When he entered Gwendolyn's cell he was surprised to see a ghostly form in front of him. "Liscia?" The projection turned to face him. "Resster." Behind Liscia, Gwendolyn stood her face clouded in anger. His eyes raked her form, clad only in a bikini top and a thong. "What...?" Gwendolyn drew in a breath. "Are you here to let me out?" She asked, he could hear how much effort it had taken to keep her voice even. "No," he admitted. "But I am postponing your trial." The women stared at him until he explained his fears of civil war. "So I rot here?" Gwendolyn was laughing. "I'm left to rot here, in a jail filled with peeping toms and perverts, because you're afraid someone will challenge you for the throne. Bloody hell, I'll take your precious throne from you, myself!" Liscia put a restraining hand on Gwendolyn's shoulder. "Resster, she has to leave." Her eyes bored into him. "There are things happening..." Resster cut her off. "I am sick of things happening! I am sick of hearing about what's more important and which one of you has to go and save the world! Someone has to deal with the country unless we want it to go to hell! Then we won't have to worry about the Star or any other mythical threats you can throw at me!" He stormed out, feeling the prison shake with Gwendolyn's fury as he rode away. |
| Resster Brerst told to the Privy Council that based on his services and based on the ancient connection between the Brerst clan and the House of Arbosburg, he should be declared king now that the period of mourning for the dead king was over. The Privy Council (consisting of the highest officials) then called the House of Lords and the House of Commons into session to help it judge Resster's claim. Together they would make or break Resster's rise to power. |
Gwendolyn seethed in her cell. Liscia's astral form had been cut off in the magical blasts. The goddess sat on the cold floor, wrapped in a ragged blanket, alternating between despair and fury. She staunchly refused to use her powers and ignored the effects of suppressed magical energy that threw everyone else to the ground. Even the Captain stayed away, although if he had come, Gwendolyn would have either accepted him or killed him, she couldn't decide which. It was only when she had finally fallen into a dead, dreamless sleep that Arrod, in mouse form, crept from a small hole in the wall. He shifted back to human form and lay down next to Gwendolyn, stroking her cheek softly. She looked small and shaken, very vulnerable. Two shapes materialized in front of him. He stood sharply, sheltering Gwendolyn. The two women smiled, the one robed in green stepped forward. "You know who I am." "Yes." Arrod said, his back straight and tall. He spoke softly so as not to waken Gwendolyn. "This is my sister, Julia." Imeia swept her hand towards the lady in red. "We are Liscia's cousins. We wish to speak with you." "You're the cousins of evil and I have nothing to say to you." Imeia smiled. "You're very idealistic, my boy. Her cold eyes glanced down at the small sleeping form. Arrod stepped between her gaze and Gwendolyn. "How stupid of us not to see. You love her." Imeia's tone was off-hand and slightly disparaging. "She has nothing to do with this." "I hope you are right." Julia smiled, stepping forward, her back arched seductively. Imeia cut her off. Arrod scowled at both of them. "Our time runs short, my boy. Come and speak with us." Arod gasped and clutched his head as images of a path, a wood, a cave, a map, all flashed through his head. "You will be able to find us, we're sure." With one last disdainful look at Gwendolyn, Imeia took Julia's hand and disappeared. Arrod stared at where they had been for a long time with yellow cat's eyes, before slipping between the wall and Gwendolyn, cradling her with his arms, his face buried in her hair. |
Liscia sighed to herself, things were going so poorly. But Gwen was the key. Gwendolyn had to start the fight against the Star, or all would be doomed. She did not even dare to think of how the world would be if evil achieved what it was planning. "I can do nothing. It is no longer in my hands." That said, Liscia fell into a deep sleep. ****** Darkness everywhere. Screams are the only sounds to permiate the otherwise deafening silence. A light, somewhere in the distance! Three beings. One bright, one dull, and the last as dark as their black surroundings. The moon.... The stars.... The night.... All comprised to be the Star of Necromancy Three more beings came... Same as before. One bright, on dull and one dark. But this time, the elements were different. The sun, the sky, but the last one... it was so hard to understand. It was not an element, nor was it magical in any way... ****** Liscia woke with a start. The three elements to form a new star... A star of hope and life. The sun was meant to face the moon. The sky to fight the night. And the stars to fight the hope. Liscia against Imeia. Liscia was the only mortal who could save magic against eternal slavery. Resster against Julia. Resster was the only human who could win over death's mistress. Gwendolyn against Arod. And Gwen, the one who had to begin it all... the hope of all things good, was the immortal to protect the sanctity of true life against those who would pervert it. "Maybe it is time to go back. Seclusion is well and good for those without a purpose, and it seems that I can no longer hide from mine." |
| In the last few years of the King's life, the sickened King had allowed the Privy Council to form a Council of Regents to act as the King's substitutes. When Julia had killed the King in the form of the Chairman of the Council, the Captains of the Secret Police and of the Palace Guard detained the entire Council for questioning as to whether they worked with the Twenty Assassins. They informed the Privy Council who then made Resster Brerst "prince regent". In other words, the Privy Council had made Resster a prince with the power to act as the King's substitute instead of allowing the detained Council to remain the king's substitutes. Now the Royal Council declared that they would hold a hearing in the next two days to determine who should be the next king. In the meantime, the Royal Council instructed the Prince Regent to investigate Gwendolyn Macarlos to determine as to whether she had done anything against the law or the power of the law over the affairs of the kingdom. Resster then had the Captain of the Secret Police transfer Gwendolyn Macarlos to the House of the Royal Council, a meetinghall where he would question Gwen and where the Council would later meet when it judged Resster's claim to the Crown. Resster waited until the Captain had escorted Gwen to the House. He had done so personally so that Resster should he become king would know how dedicated he was toward serving the Crown. Also at the House was the brother of the man who had stolen Gwen's clothes. He had come to testify that Gwen had murdered his brother. That was what Resster would investigate today. Tomorrow he would summon the Duke of Schelden to investigate whether Gwen was a traitor. But for today he would merely determine whether the man who stolen Gwen's clothes had merely annoyed her and thereby was killed unjustly. Or he would determine that Gwen was endangered to justify the death of the man who had stolen her clothes. |
Gwendolyn listened to the proceedings of the court apathetically. She had been given a long black gown that hugged her figure but was without ornament. She could feel their eyes on her, but could not bring herself to care. Instead she locked eyes with Resster. He shifted uncomfortably in his throne. She wondered distantly whether he was secure in his position. Several men came forth to give testimony. Gwendolyn concentrated on Resster, he was now trying to avoid her stare. Her eyes were huge, soft green with dispair, and they bared her defeat for him to see. He just didn't understand. When two guards closed their hands around her arms she jumped in surprise. Her quick movement had a dozen swords quickly pointed at her and a knife at her throat. She felt the blade against her skin, and felt the unsteady hand behind it. She was lead forward to a small stand and a harsh, beak-nosed magistrate glared down at her. "What do you say to the charges of murder." "I killed him." She said quietly. "He meant to take my companion and myself as slaves... he commanded us to have sex. He stole our clothing." "Is that all you have to say?" The magistrate asked. "No. The Star is almost formed. Arrod is the final piece." Everyone but Resster looked at her as though she were crazy. She took the opportunity to walk forward to Resster's throne. "I have given up my powers. But I have to save him. I can make him stay, prevent him from going to them, stop the Star. Please," Gwendolyn cleared her throat at the unfamiliar word. "please, Resster." She placed her small hand on his. "Please, m'lord." And she knelt to him. She also palmed a small knife she had stolen from the unsteady guard in case he said no. |
| "If I let go, how will you find Arod?" Resster asked Gwyn. "He's been visiting me from time to time precisely so he can keep track of me. He'll find me," Gwyn replied. "Very well. I declare you innocent of murder and treason. However you must come back tomorrow with Arod and Liscia. I shall also summon the Duke of Schelden and his wife. You know his wife, she's none other than Julia. I will want all five of you so that I find the truth concerning the Star and what threat if any it might pose to the kingdom. But for today, Gwyn, you are dismissed." |
Gwendolyn nodded and concealed the knife in the folds of her dress. She stood away from Resster and, with a crack, shifted realms. She immediately began to focus on Arrod, but a strong hand took her elbow. Gradniel looked at his daughter sadly, touching her face. He shook his head. "What?" Gwendolyn was almost afraid. "No." He said. "You must stay." "I can't. I have to save Ar--" Gwendolyn blushed as Gradniel waved his hand to open a window. Through the window she could see Arod curled up next to her in her cell, then Arod kissing her softly, then back to her running out of Resster's privy chamber into Arod. She saw herself try to push past him, try to blast him aside, but he didn't move. In the window she asked, "Why... why didn't you..." She heard him explain the amulet that let him find her and his promise to her family to stay by her side, never to let her be alone. She saw herself stroke his hair, murmuring softly, and then very distinctly she heard Arod say: "I was sent to be your friend but I... I'm only human. Forgive me." And Gwendolyn watched as he kissed her, and ran away. The window closed, and Gradniel sighed deeply. His daughter still couldn't meet his eyes. He opened a second window. In it, Gwendolyn could see Arrod enter a small clearing, deep in the woods. In the center she saw the small altar, saw the scorched grass from where she had set up a wall of protection and saw Julia and Imeia approach, hands extended. She screamed and tried to dive at the window, but only hit an invisible wall. Gradniel bent down to his sobbing daughter and, clipping a small bracelet around her wrist, hugged her shoulders tightly. She tried to tear off the bracelet that confined her to this realm but she couldn't. Gradniel stroked her hair, shushing her. "You must listen." He told her when she was quiet. Gwendolyn did not answer, but Gradniel extended a hand in front of them and pulled Liscia into the Dream World. He kissed his daughter's forehead and disappeared into the mist. |
| Resster Brerst was concerned when Gwen disappeared all of a sudden, especially when she did not reappear the next day as commanded. And yet he found that she was innocent. And so when the Duke and Duchess of Schelden sent him a letter indignantly refusing to be questioned, Resster became very suspicious of them. Now the two days given to Resster to make an investigate Gwen had passed. And he went before the Royal Council. And before that council, the Duke of Schelden declared Resster too paranoid to be king since he had called the Duke in for questioned. Outraged, Resster explained to the Council why he was suspicious. And yet even after that, three lords supported the Duke for he had promised to make them a council of kings over Esterine provided they let him be High King and acknowledge Imeia as Empress of the Over-Realms. (Over-Realms was when she called the kingdoms sitting over the surface of the land.) As members of the "high families" descended from the god Cidalmon, these lords could claim their kingship for themselves and so they had eagerly accepted the Duke's offer. They therefore waited for the Duke to challenge Resster. Instead the Duke asked the Council to think things over for a day before going through the trouble of a trial. Shocked, Resster don't say anything and so the Council ended the hearing for the day, dismissing everyone attending the hearing. Resster saw the Duke approach three men and walk away. He followed and hid in the bushes as they talked. "Men," said the Duke, "the next stage of my plan has come. We must enlist the help of the Captain of the Secret Police." "What about the Captain of the Palace Guard?" asked one of the men. "He is loyal to the memory of the old kings. He will be dead once we have risen power!" The four men then went their separate ways. Now Resster had to reach the Captain of the Secret Police first to secure his loyalty... |
| Gwendolyn watched Resster as he returned to his study to search his records for the Captain of the Secret Police. Gwendolyn sighed, leaning her head against the insubstantial ground of the Dream World. She waved her hand idly, barely moving as she scanned the surface of Esterine for the man. She wouldn't help, she told herself, then shivered. She still had been unable to choose between saving Arrod and fighting the Star. She could sense Arrod, near to the clearing in the wood where she had been imprisoned, Liscia held captive. She wanted more than anything to pull him up with her into the Dream World, and for them to forget what had happened. Let the world fall apart, it had nothing to do with her. Gradniel watched his daughter, watched the colors fade in and out in the halo aura that surrounded her. His heart broke for her. Carefully, he steered her vision away from Arrod. She knew that he had done it but still she did not move. He wanted her to yell at him, scream, shout, cry, fight, but she would not. He guided her vision to the Captain of the Secret Police, and the Duke of Schelden's men. He watched Gwen as she watched the Duke's men capture the Captain. She had no reaction. Slowly, the Dream God cupped his hands to form a circle, and even more painstakingly, hesitantly, slow he opened them. The bracelet fell from Gwendolyn's risk, disappearing as it slipped through the air. Gwendolyn looked up at her father, he nodded encouragingly, but she simply lay her head back down. She would not fight for the Star. And she would not fight against Arrod. |
| As Resster Brerst left the Royal Archives Library, he was met by Andreas Hoefex, his assistant in spying on the bandits that raided Morrogga. "You called..." "Yes!" exclaimed Resster, "I plan on raising an army of militiamen to attack the Duke of Schelden. I need you to be the General of my army." "Very well," replied Andreas. At that point, a knight rode up to them. "Sir!" cried the knight. "The Secret Police has learned that their captain has gone missing." "Who is his most senior lieutenant?" asked Resster. "I am," replied the knight. "Who are you?" asked Resster. "Lieutenant Reginald Avery of His Majesty's Secret Police," replied the knight. "This man is an impostor!" whispered Andreas, "Reginald Avery was shot by a bowman after I told him about the bandit raids." "Come!" cried Resster. "Let us go to the palace. The captured captain left a detachment of secret police there." The horseman was pleased for he planned to lead them into an ambush. Resster was also pleased for he planned to arrest the knight. |
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