The Princess and the Sword.

PROLOGUE:

In the farthest part of Moba near the border of Riya, a secret kingdom lay in a valley between two of Moba's highest peaks. The kingdom was ruled by five knights who acted as stewards of the rightful heir of the throne.They were searching for their rightful ruler but as of yet they had had no luck in finding her.

"Madna said the fifth night from the 241ST full moon." Zeo the fourth knight said.
Ed the second knight nodded, "Else the kingdom falls in chaos."
The chamber was silent as the knights contemplated the consequences of those words.

Nicholas the First knight said, "We must find her men. The Fifth night draws closer every day. We only have nine days left."
Josh the third knight said, "But it is a vast world men, where do we begin and where do we finish?"
Dylan the fifth knight said, "It may be so gentlemen, that we have to consult Madna once again."

Madna foresaw the men approaching before they came, she had already set the water for the tea on the stove when they entered her small cottage.
"Madna-" Josh began but was cut short by her.
"Hand me the knife Dylan." She rasped, "Ill cut the cake."
So the men sat silently and had their tea and cake before speaking, "Madna, we need to know where she is." Nicholas said.
"You did not tell me how was the cake, Nick." Madna complained hoarsely.
"Uh it was quite good-" Nicholas began but Zeo interrupted him, "Cut the bull Madna, this is serious. If we don't find her in time...'
There was a collective shudder that passed in the group.
"We have a population of over ten thousand that we must protect." Ed said grimly, "And we don't have any idea where she is."
Madna looked at the babies who had grown into boys and now men. They still held some of their baby characteristics. Dylan still pouted when he was troubled and Josh still bit his nails. She felt love for them flood her heart, but she was powerless.

"As much as I'd like." She said sadly, "I do not know where she is."
"Dammit Madna, if you were going to have this much trouble finding her, you should never have sent her away." Nicholas exploded.

"That was needed at that time." Madna said calmly, "She would have been killed straight away and the kingdom would have fallen much sooner."

"But you didn't predict that the carrier would get killed on the way." Zeo said accusingly.

Madna sighed, "I am a mere mortal." She said, 'I do not, can not know everything." The men sat with their heads lowered in disappointment. Madna sighed again, "I can use that technique. But I can only use it once, after this point in time you will be without my prophecies."

The men looked torn between wanting to find the princess and having Madna stay as their fortune teller. "We must do it men." Josh whispered dejectedly, "For the good of the kingdom." And after gloomy stares at one another, everyone consented.

Madna asked them to bring herbs from the villages and soon a purple colored fire was roaring in Madna's Kichten. Madna took a deep breath and stuck her face in the fire. The Knights cringed as Madna screamed from the heat and the raw energy of the flames. A few moments later she emerged from the fire, completely umharmed and said excitedly, her raspy voice vibrating so much that the men had trouble understanding her at first, "I have found her. " The men leapt with joy.

"WHERE?" they asked in unison.
"Im not sure." Madna said, "But it seemed to be the western mountains In Moba."
"There are alot of western mountains in Moba." Zeo said deflatedly.
"So you better hurry." Madna said, gesturing them out of her home. "Hurry."
So the five brave knights geared up for the journey and started on the search for their long lost princess.

Madna watched them leave.She probably shouldn't have sent the knights to the mountains in Moba on a fruitless hunt but it was necessary as they tended to whine and complain alot. Madna stood up and went to the cellar. The time had come for her to go and get the princess herself.

**********
Chapter 1

The young soldiers were gathered at a bar near military base of Juren. The youths were jubilant being sent out on
their first mission tomorrow.

"TO US AND ALL OUR DARING ENDEAVORS." One youth yelled out, raising his beer mug.The rest of them whooped and chugged down their beers.

Tanya took a tiny sip and grimaced, wondering why she had ordered beer when she hated it. She turned her head for the umpteenth time to catch a glimpse of Rick Welsh flirting with the gorgeous bartender, the girl was enjoying it AND heartily responding.
Tanya gritted her teeth and forced her self to look away, what did she care what he did anyways.
She was just finishing her drink when a warm hand touch the base of her neck. "Hi there." A deep voice said and
Tanya pointedly ignored it.
"WHAT?" Rick said flopping down next to her.
"We are supposed to be celebrating our first mission." Tanya said sourly, shooting him a dirty look, "Just because you've had one of those months ago, doesn't mean you undermine ours."
Rick grinned and leaning forward, tweaked her nose. "Are you jealous because the girl has longer legs than you?" He
whispered.
"WHA- WHAT?????" Tanya screeched. Rick laughed and then jumped up and grabbing Tanya's hand dragged her onto the
dance floor.
*****

The next morning footsteps echoed down the large bare hallway of the Juren military base. The captains followed by their soldiers marched in a single file to the vehicles waiting to escort them to their mission to the small village situated in the thick jungles of Juren.

The troops stopped before the vehicles and the captains called out last minute orders.

Tanya Abdol hitched her bag more securely up her shoulder and took a deep breath. It wasn't a difficult mission,
they had to capture some rouge dwarfs that were terrorizing the village, but she was anxious nevertheless. This would be her first real life combat.

She rubbed her hands nervously together. Just then somebody patted her head. Looking up she saw Rick Welsh. "Argh It's you." Tanya said making a mock face.
Laughing he ruffled her hair, "Still getting the jitters?" He asked, his eyes twinkling.

"Hah! Let me remind you it was me who used to wipe your eyes after the training courses." Tanya shot back
smoothing down her hair. The two looked at each other and burst out laughing. The captains looked to see what the
commotion was and they saw Rick, "Senior Captain?!" Captain Airek said, striding forward towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd accompany you to the battle field." Rick said smiling..
"Sir you don't need to concern yourself with such a lowly operation." Captain Airek said and then caught sight of
Tanya standing behind Welsh. "Stop standing around Abdol.Hurry up and get in the vehicles."
"Yes sir." Tanya said and hurried forward.

Rick saw her go. "Captain Airek, you know that I hate paperwork. And they have a ton waiting for me right now. Let
me accompany you. I wont get in your way."

"That's not the problem." Airek looked at the young commander and sighed. "Of course you can accompany us, sir."
Rick grinned and followed the captain to the jeep.

Tanya settled down and turned her head to look at Rick following Captain Airek. He looked very handsome in his military uniform and Tanya ogled at him as discreetly as she could. When had her thin lanky best friend become such a hunk?

.A little while later the vehicles began moving. The base was surrounded by nothingness and stretched for miles.
Tanya stared out the window as the passing scenery. The lush greenery calming her down like no other antedote.

Behind her the rest of the soldiers were laughing and joking around. The vehicles turned right and headed for their designated course. The soldiers prepared and ready for battle. "What come, may come, Muster any
strength you can against them." The soldiers began chanting the war cry as they finally left for the battle field.
*****
The Vehicles stopped at a site 4 kilometers from the designated area.
Rick got out of the jeep. He winked at Tanya who hurried past him towards Captain Airek. She stuck her tongue
out at him before disappearing amidst the soldiers.

He walked over to where the captains were assembling their troops
Teyra Bolski the attractive, thirty seven years old captain smiled thinly at Rick.
Yun Slowak the fifty four years old stern faced captain, merely grunted.
The teams were formed, instructions given and troops departed.

Rick knew the soldiers were in capable hands. Despite being young, most troops handled themselves with confidence. Or perhaps because they were young that they were so confident, but their enthusiasm was catching and Rick saluted them as they left.
How many would come back?
He shook his head with displeasure at his morbid thoughts and sat down near the jeep, enjoying the peace and serenity of the jungle. He sat there for a long time and then wondering if they still had coffee left in the jeep got up and made his way to the car.

.Suddenly he felt the hair at the back of his neck stand. His eyes narrowing, he immediately drew out his gun. and rotating, he scanned the area but saw nothing out of the ordinary but since he had learned long ago to rely on his instincts more than anything, he didn't relax.

He heard a rustle of leaves on his left and he tensed, raising the gun, he called out loudly, "Come out.I
can see you." Hoping his bluff would work, he kept his gun pointed at the supposed target. When nothing moved he shifted more to the left to get a better view and saw a rabbit, half hidden behind the trees.
"Its a rabbit." Rick murmured. But he still didn't relax. The rabbit looked back at him, its eyes gazing at him
fearlessly.
"You're a brave one aren't you." Rick said to the rabbit keeping the gun pointed at it's head. He scanned the area
wondering if anyone was using the animal as a decoy. The forest was still.

Rick looked back at the rabbit and picking up a pebble, threw it forcefully near to where the rabbit was sitting, it didn't move an inch. 'Strange.It's not afraid of me at all.' Rick thought with with an amused quirk to his lips. 'It might be because it has never come across humans... Still something about it doesn't seem quite right' Taking a deep breath, he tightened his finger on the trigger. "Forgive me if I'm mistaken. But I'd rather not take any chances." And with that he fired the gun.
******
They heard the distant gunshot just as they exited the forest and began the remaining half mile walk to the village.
'Rick's gun.' Tanya thought, a lump rising in her throat.
"Senior Captain?" Captain Slowak said sounding bitter, just as he had known, the kid was good for nothing and
nothing good ever came out of making kids do adults work. Now he was going away firing at God knew what. Thinking
about it the Captain grunted in displeasure and spat at the ground.
The whole platoon had halted. Captain Airek was looking back at the direction that they had come from, his face
twitching.
"Captain Airek." Captain Teyra said softly, "We can not divert from protocol. The Senior Captain can take care of
himself. We must proceed to the village."

The seasoned captain looked back at her and sighed. "Yes. Move on troops." And with that the platoon moved
forward, away from the forest and towards the awaiting villagers. Tanya slowed down her pace till she was at the end of the line and then as the troops trudged forward, she quietly broke away from them and made a run back for the forest.

She would have hell to pay later especially if Rick was just firing away to kill time. The jerk had never really cared about the consequences of his actions.
Ducking her head to avoid the branches, she lived up to the nickname "the bullet" given to her at the academy and
zoomed to where they had left Rick.
* * *

She ran for what seemed like hours but saw no sign of Rick. She knelt down to catch her breath and dug in her bag for a bottle of water. Grumbling she prepared to move out again when she heard something moving. Diving behind a
bush she pulled out her gun.

Into the clearing stepped a raccoon. 'Sheesh.' She thought, relieved. 'You scared me you ugly lil-'
Just then before her eyes the raccoon transformed into a man before moving away into the thick set of trees.
"WHAT?" Tanya stayed in the bush overcome with shock, despite having read a lot about magical creatures this was her first time seeing one in real life.

'It actually changed into a man...' She thought shocked, then shaking her head to clear her mind she tightened her hold on her gun, 'Perhaps this was what attacked Rick?' She wondered and horrible scenarios entered her mind, making her grab her head and saying "NO."

And then she realized that nothing would escape Rick looking completely unscathed and calmed down. 'He's okay. I know it.' She told herself and taking a deep breath, she quietly slipped after the beast man and began tailing him.