Quest of Twelve ~ a fantasy fic (chapters 1-22 linked, chapters 23-32 posted)

[Lady Vulpix]

Hello. As you may or may not know, I've been writing a fic and posting it here on TPM over the last few years. The thing is, it was lost in the transition to the new server. I'm not going to start reposting it from chapter 1 because I hated it when I was reading a fic and all of a sudden the author started reposting it, so here's a link to my backup from the old topic.

http://forboards.tripod.com/QoT/QoT1.html

You can navigate the backup pages by clicking on the page numbers just as if they were on a message board. Page 10 contains only comments.

I'm going to keep writing it at a slow pace (so please don't be afraid of having to catch up with 22 chapters) and future chapters will be posted here. Comments on old chapters will be appreciated (as long as they're constructive and not things like 'this fic sucks'). Input from the readers is very valuable to me. And of course you don't have to read all 22 chapters at once.

[Charizard04621]

Glad to see you had backup, Gabi... Strange that your entire fic was lost, though; mine for some reason remained intact. Anyway, just posting to say that I'm still checking this fic for updates. Can't get enough of your stories ^_^

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks for your constant support, Karin. Right now I'm at an Internet cafe in Savonlinna, Finland (enjoying a cup of blue fruit tea as I type, we don't have that in Argentina). So I'm afraid I won't be able to start typing my next chapter until I get back to Argentina. But over the last 2 days I've been thinking of the details about the fall of... (Spoiler:) are spoiler tags even working?, so I'll get back to writing as soon as I can. Finland is full of forests and forests always give me inspiration to write. Please tell everyone who doesn't read this message that I said hi.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ok, spoiler tags aren't working, so I'm not revealing what exactly falls in chapter 24. But chapter 23 is here, and it will hopefully bring a couple of surprises.

Chapter 23: Unexpected welcome

The pain had stopped. Actually, all physical sensations had, even numbness. Now, all that was left was darkness. Fortunately for this entity, it felt at home in the dark. Even now as strong, invisible forces last at its very essence. Trying to drain it, take everything from it. It? No... her. That was right, they were trying to strip her of her identity. She wouldn't let them. She could play that game. Taking, absorbing, gathering more power for herself. Whatever that meant. Nothing made much sense then. It was only her, the forces... and the struggle. If she gave in to the confusion, the forces would get her. But things were slowly becoming clear now. She couldn't see or feel anything, but she could hear her own thoughts; as well as other voices. Voices that kept telling her to give up, saying there was nothing to fight for. Oh, but there was, wasn't it? Power was a good reason in itself. And the sheer fun of it. But there was even more. There was someone waiting for her outside. Whatever 'outside' meant in a space which wasn't a space at all. She couldn't fail him. She wouldn't leave him alone. Scenes were now beginning to form in her mind... painful memories. Thoughts of others who had hurt her and made her early years miserable. And worst of all, they had hurt her brother.
"Is that the life you want to go back to?," the voices whispered. "Is that the identity you struggle so much to keep? What do you really want? Isn't it power? Join us and you'll be filled with power. Give yourself away and you'll be power. Sheer power. Invincible. Immortal. You'll never suffer again."
The offer sounded promising, yet deceitful. Still, she was drained by the memories and her will was starting to give way. There was too much pain. More than she could handle. Those who should have loved her...
"Don't think about them anymore. Let them stop existing. That way, they lose."
"Everybody loses that way," she replied in thoughts. She had no voice to speak.
"Life is full of losses. Let this be your last loss. You won't regret it. You'll never suffer again."

She stopped struggling for a moment. She was too weak to fight. But then, something changed. There was a light. There was sound. Not the voices that haunted her mind. Real sound. Young female voices... singing... chanting. The forces turned away from her for a moment, a moment she used to recover her strength. She didn't care who the others were. They were just a distraction. She knew who she was, and that was what mattered. The forces returned eventually, but she was determined not to let them in again. They were just empty promises. That, and energy which she could get for herself. Negative magic could be really useful, and death magic was particularly strong in there. Sucking life was suddenly quite an easy task. Still, the voices weren't silenced.
"You can't go back, no matter how hard you try," they said to her. "You have no way to win. You're already one of us."
She was startled. Had she had a heart, it would have skipped a beat. The voices were right.

*************************

The travelers were able to move much faster now that the weather was normal. They had a few calm days, which made Erin more uneasy than usual, since that meant - according to her - that their enemies were gathering more forces to attack them with. At least they did manage to get some training done. That, and share some campsite stories: Ralph seemed to have quite a few stories to tell, and Timper caught up with the mood and told some of his own. The shifter was more cheerful than usual, now that he had found out the secret of the lurians and that Erin was finally opening up to him.

The rest of the journey towards Ralph's village went on without incidents aside from a light snowfall, during which Ralph offered protection to the young faerfliyes. At first Jim wasn't too pleased, especially after his sister confessed the human had distracted him during their first training session by telling her she was pretty. But it was too cold and Ralph's coat had warm and comfortable pockets, so he accepted in the end. After the fourth day, however, he had to say goodbye to the warmth.
"My village is right behind this hill," Ralph announced.
"I guess it's time to say goodbye, then," Eric said. "It's been nice to have you with us, even for such a short while."
"Yes, it's been great for me too. I won't forget you guys... and girls. Thanks for all your help."
"You're welcome," Erin replied.
"Hey, would it be ok if I went down there with you?," Timper asked. "Only for a moment, to make sure everything's alright and to take a look. I've never seen a human village from a human's perspective."
"Sure," Ralph accepted. "If anyone asks, I'll say I met you on my way home and you're just stopping by."
"Cool. Maybe I can even get some food and other things for our journey. Tell me, do I look human?," Timper asked as he transformed.
"Not in those clothes," Ralph replied.
"Why does everyone complain about my dressing style? Ok, I guess I'll copy your clothes instead. Maybe just a bit darker so that they don't look identical."
"They still look like they were made by the same tailor, but I guess they're fine. Come, I'll show you the way."
"Ok. See you soon, everyone. I'll be back in an hour or so. Normally I'd stay longer, but there's no way I'm leaving you guys alone."
"Just go!," Erin chuckled.
"He's lucky," Gallead commented as Ralph and Timper walked away. "He can go anywhere without catching anyone's attention."
"It's Timper we're talking about," Erin told him. "He can't open his mouth without getting everyone's attention."
"Maybe, but he knows when to keep it closed," Pura pointed out, having already had a talk with Erin about his discovery.
"I don't think he has it easy," Eric said. "From what he told us, many have refused to accept him just for being a shifter. Which is quite stupid, if you ask me."
"All sentient beings have the capacity to be smart and sensible, or really stupid," Gallead stated. "The latter is easier to achieve."
"Well, it would be easy for a shifter to deceive others, or do things like spying or stealing," Erin commented. "And power often leads to temptation, so the general distrust towards shifters does have a base in reality. Timper's not like that, though. He's too blatantly honest for his own good, so he's bound to keep suffering for his race's reputation."
"We don't choose the abilities we're born with, but we do choose what we do with them," Gallead said. "I think Timper's made a good choice."
"What will Timper think if he finds out you're all talking about him behind his back?," Mariel pointed out.
"He should have nothing to complain about. Everyone's flattering him," Erin told him. "I bet it would be quite a boost to his ego, not that he needs it."
"Ok, but this is getting too awkward. Do you start talking about everyone who leaves?"
"This is the first time I can recall," Erin told her.

As the faerie spoke, she was hit by a bright green spot of light.
"Oops! Sorry," Timper's voice said. "I've never tried this before, I must learn to control the speed."
"I see. What caused you to dash back like that anyway?," Erin questioned him.
"The village. It's all wrong. It looked empty, but then we opened a door and were attacked right away. They were many. Ralph told me to come for help."
"Who attacked you?"
"They looked human in shape and build, but their skin was pale and their eyes were red. They didn't say a word and seemed to attack mindlessly."
Erin's own face went pale for a moment, her pupils shrinking to their limit. It was just a second. Then her eyes went back to normal and she started issuing commands.
"Mariel, have you learnt how to cast protection spells yet?"
"I haven't mastered the protection domain yet, but the last shield spell I cast did work," Mariel replied.
"Ok, then you have the power to do it. Cast a protection spell on all of us, don't hesitate and it will work. Timper, go back to Ralph. Don't let them hurt him, or you. It will be best if you can transform into something that has no blood while you're fighting them. Pura, go with him and hit them with as much light as you can manage. Don't let them touch you either. The rest of us will join you as soon as we can catch up."

Timper and Pura knew better than to question Erin when she looked so serious, and sped towards the village.
"What's going on?," asked Mariel. "What kind of protection spell do we need?"
"One that works against death magic. We're up against shadows. Even a small wound allows them to penetrate the victim's bloodstream and pull out its soul. That makes them dangerous even if their attacks are hardly coordinate. They've taken down entire cities that way."
"I've heard that," Mariel nodded. "I'll try to combine a shield spell with some life magic. I've never tried that before, but I'll do my best."
"Good. And if you can use life magic against the shadows, it will be a powerful weapon. Even more so than light, but if you can't use it that way, light magic will be good too."
"I'll do what I can," Mariel promised, concentrating to cast the protection spell.

*************************

In the meantime, a meeting took place between Haggaus and Jor.
"Am I early?," Jor asked, noticing the absence of everyone else in the team.
"You're on time, no one else is attending," Haggaus replied.
"This will be quite a small meeting! Too bad, I wanted everyone to hear about the success of my mission."
"They'll find out sooner or later, and congratulate you if they're in the mood. I for one am glad to hear that. After the recent fiasco I was starting to lose faith in our group. Did they put up a good fight?"
"I'd be disappointed if they hadn't. I managed to stay hidden, so they didn't know what they were fighting against, yet they kept me at bay for weeks! Even with the amulet you gave me it was hard to block their attempts to identify me and counter their attacks. As it was, I needed days to recover my energy and the stone's power was exhausted, but it had an interesting effect in the older ones. I could say they were petrified by my amazing display of power."
"If you feel the need to flatter yourself about what you've managed to pull out with the aid of my power, at least be kind enough not to make jokes about it. Now, will you please return my amulet?"
"Oh, sure," Jor said, taking off the black chain with a large, opaque grey, diamond-shaped pendant. "But as I said, it's run out of power," he repeated as he handed it to his partner.
"I know. If it's necessary, I'll take the time to recharge it. I hope it doesn't come to that, though. If we manage to build up a good team, not one of us should be forced to perform such an 'awesome display of power', as you just said."
"I said 'amazing', but I guess 'awesome' might be a better word to describe it."
Haggaus glared at Jor. "Stop it. I don't want to lose another member of our group just because he's too full of himself to think clearly. Celebrate your victory if you must, but don't lose track of the big picture. And finish your report before you go out and indulge yourself in whatever pleasures you think you've earned as a reward. You said the amulet petrified the older ones. What happened to the others?"
"I don't know if they were smart or terribly stupid. They saw their impending doom and tried to escape through a portal. Sadly for them, it was a portal I'd set up, which led to the Chamber of the Restless. By now they've either died or become the kind of raw energy you feed the orb with."
"The kind of raw energy I don't want to lose, I remind you. Never open a portal to the chamber of the restless without my explicit permission. You don't know what you're dealing with. Some of that energy's not as raw as it seems. It may escape through your portal, and we need every last bit of it if we want to succeed. So from now on, don't be so careless as to mess with things you don't completely understand."
"It was open for just a couple of minutes and it got the job done. It was the only place I could open a portal to that would spell certain death for them, and as far as I can tell, you haven't noticed an energy loss, so stop complaining, and stop bossing me around. Deciphering a prophecy doesn't make you a leader. You elves have a reputation for feeling superior to everyone else, but we're partners and you'll have to live with that."
Haggaus directed a burning glare at Jor, but did not reply. After all, he did eed him. He knew he'd never be able to reach his goal on his own, and for all of Jor's annoying personality traits, he'd proven to be more effective than most at dealing with powerful enemies. Especially more effective than the two allies they'd already lost.
"Now, may I ask where everyone else is?," Jor inquired.
"The Savalls are patrolling the border for anyone who attempts to intrude. Wilson's on a mission much like the one you've just come back from. Miranda has recovered from her wounds and is out their spreading chaos in the best way she can; we need to keep her entertained. As for Day, he was feeling too angry and frustrated over the loss of his sister to attend the meeting."
"You mean Night is dead?"
"If she's not, she will be soon. She and Day had a clash with a rather heterogeneous group which, according to Day's description, could be the enemies the prophecy speaks of. Night came out of the battle with fatal wounds. She'd lost too much blood and her vital organs were damaged beyond repair. Day couldn't see that, and insisted that I did something to save her. All I could do was feed her to the Orb of Souls and tell him there was a slight chance that she would survive; which technically wasn't a lie, but it's an infinitely remote possibility, and even if it does happen, she won't be restored completely."
"But you don't think she'll make it, right?"
"So far only Kharchek managed to make it out of the orb alive, and only the first time. And he was an elf. I know what you think, but elves do generally have a stronger willpower and self-awareness than other races, and without those traits it's impossible to survive the Orb. Night was just a whisterel. It would make things easier for us if she made it, but I honestly doubt it."
"What will happen when Day finds out?"
"I suppose he'll feel the urge to take it out on someone. We just have to make sure that someone is not us."
"So you're planning to deal with him in the same way you've been dealing with Miranda?"
"I like to stick with that which works. He's bound to be even easier to drive than the shifter is. He has the killer instinct she still lacks."

*************************

The group followed Timper into the nearest house with an open door. The first thing they saw was four of the 'humans' Timper had described. They were all closing into Ralph, who was barely keeping them at bay with a torch. Timper immediately assumed the form of a trask and started lashing at Ralph's attackers with his front and middle legs. Ralph looked a bit shocked when he saw him, but he seemed to understand it was him. After a few strikes, his opponents' redeyes opened widely and their human bodies collapsed on the floor.

"They're running away," Erin stated. "They're bound to come back with reinforcements." She then turned to Timper. "That's not a bloodless form as I'd suggested, but I guess it did the trick this time."
"Sorry," Timper replied returning to his natural form. "I needed to ask fast and I couldn't think of anything that had no blood and at the same time could put up a good fight, so I went with something that's hard to draw blood from. I assumed that was what you were trying to avoid."
"You assumed correctly. Now we need to leave this place."
"We can't," Ralph told her.
"Look, I'm sorry about what happened to your town, I really am," Erin said to him, "but there's nothing we can do here at this time. We'd better go before more shadows attack us."
"You don't understand. We're not alone here."
"Are you saying there are survivors?"
Erin's face, while still worried, seemed to shine with a glint of hope.
"There's a girl," Ralph said. "She found me after Timper left and gave me this torch. She then said some words in a strange language, told me to be careful and ran out of the house."
"It feels like a part of a protection spell," Mariel commented. "But it's still incomplete. I think she was trying to protect the whole town by pronouncing a part of the spell in each of the houses, or at least in a selection of spots."
"We need to find her," Ralph decided. "Even if she's able to cast spells, I don't think she can handle a horde of zombies for a long time."
"Zombies?," Mariel asked with a puzzled look.
"Those things that attacked us."
"They were shadows," she explained."Life elementals, from what I've heard. One of the few kinds of creatures who can take souls away from their bodies against their will. They can only interact with the physical world by possessing bodies."
"Where did you learn all that?," Erin queried, quite puzzled.
"A sorcerer named Selinur told me that. He taught me the basics of elemental magic and other things."
"All the more reason to protect her," said Ralph. "I wouldn't forgive myself if she got killed after she saved me. And I didn't even get her name!"
"I'm not going to ask what her name has to do with anything, but you're right, we must help her," Erin agreed."Did you see the direction she headed to?"
"She turned left after crossing the door, and then I lost her. She could be anywhere by now."
"If I use connection magic to find her, I may attract the shadows," Mariel said.
"They're onto us anyway," Eric told her. "We'd better take them out fast."
"As fast as we can, yes, but I don't think we can handle them all at once."
"Then we should get out of here because there are more of them heading this way," Pura alerted the group.
"How about we split?," Eric suggested. "That way we'll force them to split as well."
"That may or may not work, but it's the only plan we have so far. Alright, you and Mariel go together. Timper, go with Ralph. Pura and Gallead, I think the shadows will have a hard time hurting either of you, so each of you can go on your own. I'll stay with the kids."
"Will you please stop calling us kids?," Jim complained. "We can fight just like the rest of you can, we'll show you."
"Sure. Just stay close to me while you do, and don't do anything stupid like charging against a shadow on your own."
"You're mean."
"If it keeps you alive, I'll be as mean as I have to."

So, the group split up, leaving the house in different directions. Only the faerfliyes stayed as a welcoming committee for the second wave. Needless to say, they all encountered trouble. Timper turned into a trask again and managed to fend of the first group of shadows, but as more of them kept coming, and especially after one of them managed to scratch his thick skin with a knife, he realized his current form wasn't strong enough to defeat all of them.
"Ralph, can you use a sword?," he asked.
"I've had some practice," the human replied.
"Good, you're going to have some more. Don't worry, I'll guide your hand."
With this, the shifter turned into a thick sword that resembled Eric's. Ralph picked him up, and together they defended themselves from the attackers, Ralph still holding the torch in his left hand until the shadows closed in. Then, he threw the torch at the group of shadows in front of him, causing them to back off. The torch went out when it hit the ground. Ralph was a bit surprised by this, but stranger things had happened to him during the last few days. So he didn't give it much of a thought, and kept fighting.

Pura, as Erin had predicted, didn't seem to have much of a problem dealing with the shadows. She moved much faster than they did and, while her attacks weren't strong, her ability to attack continuously while evading any blows coming her way gave her the upper hand. Gallead, however, was having more trouble than he had expected. His wind form made it impossible for the shadows to strike him, but it also made it hard for him to weild his sword against them. Swift moved fast, but was hardly accurate when held only by air currents. Besides, something else was making it hard for Gallead to focus. He had a pressing feeling that he should be somewhere else, that he had headed in the wrong direction when he left the house. After a few minutes of futile attempts to get rid of the shadows, he decided to follow his instincts and turned back, blowing in the direction he felt was the right one, without being sure of why he felt that way.

Mariel and Eric had entered a large hall, which seemed like a place where important events could be held. It had two doors on the back, and a large one on the front. There were pictures on the wall, most of them showing human faces. And there was also a fireplace, but the fire was out. The place looked calm, but Eric kept his guard up.
"Why aren't any shadows here?," he inquired. "Does this have anything to do with your protection spell?"
"I don't think so," Mariel replied. "The spell can make it harder for them to hurt us, but it can't stop them from coming to us. Something else must be keeping them away from here."
"Magic?"
"Let me check... Yes, I feel some protection magic in this place. But it's not powerful enough to keep all the shadows away. It's a similar spell to the one I'm using."
"That must mean someone else is fighting the shadows. It could be the girl Ralph saw. Maybe the shadows left this place to chase her."
"That makes sense."
"But then what's stopping them from coming for us too?"
"Err... nothing?"

Mariel said this as the two back doors opened and six shadows walked in through them. Eric readied her sword and Mariel attacked them with her lightballs. The light seemed to hurt them, but it didn't stop them.
"What did Erin mean when she said light magic would help?," Mariel sighed. "They're not more vulnerable to it than our previous enemies."
"In my book anything that can hurt them helps," Eric replied. "But is it right to hurt them? I mean, those bodies they're using belong to someone else."
"I don't think the rightful owners of those bodies can return to them. We can try to stop them without killing them, but we must be careful not to end up like them."

The shadows closed in on the elves, armed with knives, sticks, jars and just about anything that could be found in a human village and could be used to cause damage. They didn't move like fighters, and they weren't focused, but they were many. Eric's sword and Mariel's lightballs could barely contain them, as pain didn't seem to slow them down. While the young elves were trying to fend off the shadows ahead of them, four more came in through the front door. One of them managed to scratch Mariel's left arm with a nail on a stick. Mariel held her wound with her right hand. Luckily her spell had prevented it from bleeding, but it was enough to enrage Eric, who turned around and sank his sword into the shadow's chest. The human body collapsed, just like the ones at the house had done before.

"Are you alright?," Eric asked Mariel.
"Yes. You?," she asked back.
"I'll think of that when it's safe."

It was hard for the two to put up a fight while being surrounded by nine enemies, even if said enemies did little more than attack blindly. Mariel managed to pull out a Glare spell and actually blind the shadows for a few seconds, but they recovered before she and Eric could reach the back doors. The elves where surrounded again, but then, all of a sudden, something came zooming in through the front door and one of the shadows dropped to the floor face first. Ericand Mariel could see a familiar sword stuck on the body's back. Eric pulled it out and threw it into the air, where it was caught by its owner.

"It's good to have you here, my friend!," Eric said, looking up to the point where Swift was floating in circles. Then the sword moved in his direction, and Gallead materialized at his side.
"Thanks, but I haven't been too helpful. I'll try to fix that," the ferwill said.

Now it was three against eight. Mariel, Eric and Gallead faced different directions and attacked the closest targets. Mariel managed to create an opening in the direction of the nearest back door, and took her chance to get through it, promising that she would be back. Eric tried to stop her, but the shadows didn't give him the break he needed to go after her.
"Let her go, we must keep up the diversion," Gallead told him.
"What do you mean?"
"Keep the shadows from reaching her. She knows what she's doing."
"And how doyou know that?"
"I don't know, I think I've been developing a sixth sense lately."
"Oh, thanks, I feel so much calmer now!," Eric ironized, but he decided to trust Mariel. So far she'd never let him down.

As for Mariel, sliding through the back door was like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. For a moment, everything looked fine. She walked along a corridor and down a set of stairs without encountering any shadows nor other difficulties. But then, as she reached the basement, a larger wave of shadows came to greet her. The place was crammed with them. They seemed to have their attention fixed on something else, but they started turning around as she got closer.
"I'm not afraid," she said, half to the shadows and half to herself. "I have what it takes to defeat you."

She put her hands together and a bright light began to shine between them. But instead of shooting it at the shadows, Mariel led the light into her heart. Soon, her whole body began to glow, and then the entire room was engulfed in a bright light. The shadows looked around, seemingly confused. Some of them shook slightly, but they didn't take long to realize that not much was going on. Angry, they faced Mariel again and threw themselves on her. But before any of them could get her, they tumbled. Mariel sighed with relief. She had taken a big chance, but fortunately her plan had worked.

Not yet defeated, the shadows started getting up, but this time Mariel's lightballs were enough to down every shadow they touched. She didn't even have to deal with them alone, as more lightballs came from the other side of the room following the sound of creaking hinges. It didn't take long before all the shadows were down and the two friends could greet each other.

"Mariel! Your sight is such a blessing for my eyes!," exclaimed Jamie. She was wearing a white dress and her pigtails were undone, but it wasn't hard for Mariel to recognize the human witch. Both girls were breathing heavily.
"I can say the same," Mariel replied. "You finished the spell right in time. Speaking of which, what was it?"
"Spiral of life. It's a powerful life and protection spell. It is also very hard to cast. It takes at least two casters who must pronounce each part of the spell at a different key location. And it must be at least four locations or else it won't work. All the locations must form a spiral and the last part of the spell must be pronounced at the center of it."
"Which in this case happened to be a wardrobe?"
"It could have been the spot right above it in main hall, but I thought the basement would be safer. It wasn't safe at all, but at least I did find the wardrobe. How did you find me?"
"Half through magic and half by chance. We came to this village escorting a human boy we found in the snow, we didn't know it had been taken over by shadows. How did you end up here? Where's your family?"
"It's a long story, and I'd rather tell it just once to the whole group and with Mildred by my side. Is Gallead still with you?"
"Yes, he's in the main hall. The group has grown in numbers since we last met."
"Great! Let's go and gather them all. We need to get Mid, she's somewhere in the village. We split up to cast the spell."
"Was she the one who gave the torch to Ralph, or was it you?"
"Hm? It must have been her, I lost my torch in the ice passage and I haven't met anyone else since I got here. Other than the fallen, of course."
"I assume that by 'fallen' you mean the shadows, but what's the ice passage?"
"I'll tell you everything later, I need to find my sister. And everyone else."
"I'll go with you."

Mariel and Jamie ran up the stairs and back through the corridor up to the main hall, where they found Eric and Gallead surrounded by a pile of lifeless bodies. Eric looked shocked, but Gallead couldn't hold himself and ran to Jamie's side as soon as he saw her, holding her tight as if to never let her go again.

"Tell me you're really here," he said. "Tell me this isn't an illusion, or another dream."
"I'm here," she affirmed. "And this time I'm not going to watch you leave. I'm going with you."
"But why? What happened?"
"I have nowhere else to go, that's what happened. The threat we were trying to keep at bay took over Shadowy Meadow. Our parents..."
Jamie could not continue. She burst into tears, wetting Gallead's shoulder. He hugged her and stroked her gently, trying to make her feel safe.
"I'm so glad I've found you," she countinued once she could speak again. "I had to keep fighting, keep the hopes up for both Mildred and myself. But I feared I would never see you again. Or anyone. When we went through that tunnel filled with deadly forces, and then the ice passage with its blizzards, and then the deserted grounds, the empty villages, and worse, this one which was occupied by enemies... If I hadn't felt there was something good on the other side, something I could reach out to if I tried hard enough... If I hadn't known you were there somewhere..."
"It's over now," Gallead assured. "You'll never be alone again."
"I need to find my sister."
"I think that won't be a problem," said a voice coming in through the front door.

There she was, standing with a smile on her face and her brown curls falling over a white dress. Behind her were Ralph, Timper and Pura.
"You're both dressed in white?," Eric commented. "I thought your family always dressed in black."
"Most of the time we do," Jamie said. "Black is to get in touch with the forces of nature and the energies of the world. White is for protection, something we've needed desperately since the last battle at Shadowy Meadow."
"How did you manage to escape?," Eric inquired.
"Through a portal," Mildred explained. "One which our enemies had opened to send negative energies to our home, I must add. Since the beginning I knew it was a stupid idea, but it was our only chance. I wouldn't go through that again for my life, but I'm glad we made it. Just as I'm glad we've found you guys. I hope you don't mind us tagging along for the rest of the journey."
"Your presence couldn't be more welcome," Gallead assured.
"Judging by how you handled the shadows back there, I'll think you'll be more useful to the group than I am," Ralph commented. "Though I think you'll all have to put up with me as well. Now I have no home to return to and I want to see the guts of the one who did this."
"I'm not looking forward to seeing anyone's guts, but I understand your feeling," Mariel told him. "You're welcome to join us."
"I was wondering..." Eric said. "Who makes the important decisions in this group?"
"It seems to me that everyone does," answered Pura. "Everyone who has an idea, anyway. Maybe we could use some more organization, but I'm not against a flat hierarchy as a concept as long as we don't have arguments during life or death situations."
"Right, during those situations we do what Erin says. The rest of the time we do the opposite of what she says," Timper joked. "Shouldn't we get her and the children now?"
"Yes, we should," Eric agreed.

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"Let me tell you why our last battle was easy," Erin spoke to the group, much to everyone's shock.

"Because you don't both say crazy things in the name of love, right?"
"We say different kinds of crazy things. Wait... did you just say love?"
"I think we should set the watches for tonight. We're eleven, so maybe 4 pairs and a trio will do, if the sisters are fit enough to get a shift."

"We need to find out what that is," Mariel decided. "It could be vital. The way it pulsates... as if it were calling us. As if it had been calling us since before we left on our quest, and only now we stop to listen."

"Just... no matter what happens, don't get lost."

"What's going on?," asked Gallead.
"A crossing," Mariel said.

And in case that ominous word doesn't mean much to you... Crossing is the title of chapter 24.

[Charizard04621]

Ooooooh, Gabi! Now I can't wait for the next chapter, again! I'm glad to see that three more people are in the group. It's getting full. ^_^ Shadows are an interesting concept, and I'd like to watch for Night if she shows up again, just to see more from her point of view. The crossing sounds intriguing... I'm really looking forward to finding out what happens next.

[mistysakura]

Just finished re-reading this, and I have to say that it's still a great fic the second time round. It's good that you've been building the cast up, and that you have a clear sense of where this fic is going. The relationships between the characters are going great as well. Shadows are an interesting concept; even if I've read several similar concepts, they still manage to instill that unique fear of something worse than death (dementors, anyone?)

This is strange, since I believe the characterization's the best thing you've done for this fic, but all my constructive criticism for the day seems also to be for your characters. I'm jsut a bit concerned about your party size. We've been accustomed to six "people", and we feel as if we know them personally; but the other characters that have been added to the group, we don't feel the same intimacy with. Perhaps it's just because we haven't seen much of these characters yet, but I feel that it's mainly because readers can't feel equally intimate with eleven characters. And so, it feels as if the group structure has been disrupted. It's like there are six, maybe seven "main characters", and then some other random characters. And I've always felt that this fic promotes a team where everyone is equal and everyone shares in the spotlight, but it just doesn't seem that way any more. I guess it could also be said that some of the new characters in the group haven't been developed much at all, which also compounded that problem. When it was a group of six, every "person" in the group had a distinct personality, and gave something unique to the group. They all had their place in contributing to the group. The new characters, however, seem almost unneccessary.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that it feels as if you're introducing characters just to make up the numbers, when it really shouldn't be that way. But enough of my criticism. The fic's still great, and I hope that you'll take your time with it, as I'm sure we'd all be willing to wait for good chapters.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks for your comments, Ada. And thanks a lot for catching up.

I understand what you mean. I'm not building up the numbers, I had all the characters in mind when I started typing the first chapter, though I can understand how the latest 5 don't mean much to the readers right now (just like Galmand looked unnecessary when he was first introduced). Oddly enough, when I first came up with the story, Galmand and Jamie were the two characters I found most appealing, but I got more into the others later on. I'll try to show more of the new characters in future chapters. <foreshadowing>At least the twelveth member of the party won't be completely new to the readers.</foreshadowing>

[Lady Vulpix]

First of all, many thanks to Karin for supporting this fic all alone, to both Karin and Ada for their replies, to those who nominated/voted for this fic at the Golden Pen Awards, and to all the readers for making this fic worth writing (those who read but never post, I'd love to know who you are).

Mainly due to my lack of free time, I've decided to make chapter 25 a short one (which I assume will be good news for you readers, I'm aware of how annoying the length of my chapters can be). But that's the next chapter. This is chapter 24, slightly darker than most of its predecessors (this isn't going to turn into a dark fic, but it does have dark moments). I wrote the Twocastle scene while I was in Finland, so if you like it, help me go to Finland again so I can get more inspiration (just kidding, but wouldn't it be great? )

Chapter 24: Crossing

"Let me tell you why our last battle was easy," Erin spoke to the group, much to everyone's shock.
"You can't say it was easy," Gallead complained, holding Jamie in his arms. "If Jamie and Mildred hadn't gone all over the village casting their spell we wouldn't have made it, and that was a very risky task."
"Gallead's right," Mariel agreed. "The shadows nearly got us. We managed to prevail, but it wasn't easy at all."
"Allow me to clarify," Erin insisted. "None of you had faced shadows before, so I understand your not knowing this, but our recent battle, as dangerous as it was, was easy in comparison to most other battles with shadows involved. Proof of it is the fact that everyone came out of it alive and without any serious wounds. Now, would you like to know what made the difference?"
Everyone listened in silence.
"The difference is that this time we were fighting only shadows. They didn't have a leader and for that reason they lacked direction. As a rule, shadows can't do much without someone else guiding them. They lack initiative and the capacity for strategic reasoning. The best they can do on their own is try to hit everything that moves with whatever they find at hand."
"As a rule?," Timper queried.
"I really don't know that much about shadows, but I've heard rumors about a few of them displaying more abilities than the others, and I heard a couple of them speak when they attacked my old home. Nothing elaborate, just short phrases like 'now you die', but enough to show they weren't completely mindless. I don't know what makes some shadows more intelligent or independant than others. It may be possible to find a shadow who thinks and acts like a fully sentient creature, but I've never seen nor heard of one. My guess is that whatever process turns them into what they are wipes away most of their minds. Some may be more resistant than others."
"In that case there may be a way to restore them," Mariel suggested.
"I don't know," Erin said. "All we can do is make wild guesses, I've already told you what I know."
"We should find a place to camp," Eric proposed "let the girls tell us their story and plan our next steps."
"Yes, we should" Erin agreed.

The group set their camp on a hill at a safe distance from the village. Ralph was still in shock, but he knew that following the group was the only thing he could do now. Mildred didn't feel much better. She, too, felt that she had lost everything; everything except her sister, for whom she was willing to keep fighting. Jamie, on the other hand, didn't want to think of what she'd lost... of everything she'd been through; she relaxed herself in Gallead's arms and let him hold her and protect her; she rested her head on his chest and listened to the beating of his heart, so similar to her own...

It was Mildred who told the group their story. How her family fought the threat that hid in the light until destructive energies started flowing into the meadow from all directions; how they kept fighting those energies until the forest itself began to turn into stone in front of their eyes; how her parents told her and Jamie to run while they kept holding the curse back until they were eventually defeated; how she had to pull Jamie's arm to make her run and save her; how they ran until they came across a portal and jumped in, knowing they were probably jumping from the frying pan into the fire but also knowing it was their only chance to survive; how they fell into a cave inhabited by the same energies that were invading their home, energies which lashed at them constantly while both girls kept chanting to protect themselves, making sure there was never silence by covering each other's stops for breath; how they finally made it out of the cave and into a set of tunnels, where they found some torches and took 2, lighting them with Mildred's fire magic; how they relied on their intuition to find their way out, and were forced to cross a frozen passage, with unforgiving winds that blew from impossible directions; how a gust of wind blew away one of the torches, back in the direction they had come from, and they had to hold onto the other firmly and use it to stay warm enough to keep walking; and how they almost lost hope more than once, and most of the times it was Jamie who insisted on going on, because she trusted that not all was lost; and how, finally, they found a village which had turned out to be taken over by shadows, but they fought and didn't give up, because they knew that help was on the way.

"We'll find a way to put an end to this," Mariel promised. "We need to stop them before they keep advancing, and we need to keep moving. If we stay in one place, they'll know where to strike."
"Right, they've found us before," Mildred sighed. "But who exactly are they?"
"We're not quite sure," Eric replied. "From what we've seen, they're a group and at least some of them are quite powerful. They came together from some reason and they're trying to... take over the world? I don't know, they've been attacking different places and at first the attacks seemed random, but I think they were trying to leave a message. What all of them seemed to have in common was that they wanted to be feared."
"What are they doing that for?," Jamie finally joined the conversation.
"Power," Erin stated. "What else can any war be for? The most dangerous double-edged sword."
"Double-edged?," Eric questioned.
"Everyone seeks power at some point. It's a necessary means to fulfill anyone's goals, and as long as you keep that in sight and know what you want it for, it will be a useful tool. But it's also well known that power tends to corrupt those who seek it; many end up liking power too much, and try to gather more, for no other reason but to become stronger. Then power becomes a purpose rather than a means, and many forget what they really wanted in the first place and lose themselves in their lust for power, doing anything in order to obtain just a little more. That's how war begins; that's how lives are lost in vain. There are countless examples. One of our enemies betrayed his friends and helped destroy the city he grew up in just for the thrill of feeling powerful. I wouldn't be surprised if the others had similar stories."
"That's something I'll never understand," Jamie shook her head.
"It must be such an awful life..." Mariel reflected. "Not caring for anyone, living only to fight..."
"It's the life they chose," Erin stated.
"Most of them, anyway," Timper commented.
"What do you mean?," Erin questioned.
"Nothing, I was just looking back at all the encounters we've had," he explained. "Most of them were, as you said, fighting for the thrill of the power. Kharchek, Jor, Day and Night... And Wilson, clearly. But one of our enemies seemed to have other motives."
"I don't care what her motives may be," Erin blurted out, instantly catching the reference. "As long as she keeps harming innocents, she's our enemy. We mustn't show mercy next time she attacks."
"I'm lost, what's this all about?," Mildred asked.
"Someone we've fought before," Timper explained. "We defeated her, but then we helped her heal. She hadn't killed anyone and she looked really troubled. She didn't have the look of someone who enjoyed gathering power and making others suffer, but of someone who had lost faith in life and was taking it out on everyone who crossed her path."
"She was also a shifter like Timper," Erin added.
"Which is completely irrelevant," Timper defended himself. "Or are you going to attack me because of what I am? Because you're the last one I expected that from."
"I was just pointing out that you might feel inclined to trust her because of what you have in common."
"If you know me, then you can't really mean that. You know I'm smarter than that."
"Maybe. But then please expain to me why you decided to talk to her when fighting was the most natural course of action."
"There was something in her expression... the way she acted... call it a hunch, but I got the feeling she wasn't really into what she was doing. As if it were just a performance for a play, but deep inside she felt something different. I thought it was worth taking the risk, and if we were lucky we could end up turning a foe into a friend."
"Alright, I'll buy that, but only because I know you're a hopeless optimist."
"Oh, no, I'm anything but hopeless," Timper smiled. "I have hope to spare. And I'd be delighted if I could share some of it with you. The day you realize what you're capable of will be a great day for the world."
Erin did nt reply, but Timper could detect the beginning of a smile forming in her lips and eyes. That was all he needed.

"It's late, we should stay here for the night and then leave as soon as the sun rises," Pura suggested.
"Were are we going?," asked Eric. "Shall we head for the wastelands again, or look for the cave the girls came from?"
"I don't want to go into that cave again," Jamie shook her head. "There was nothing but hate in there."
She started shaking with the thought of the cave, and Gallead held her firmly to help her calm down.
"If we go into the ice tunnel, the kids might not make it," Erin pointed out.
"We can make it anywhere," Jim protested. "Stop treating us like we were babies."
"If you want to be treated like an adult, you'll need to act like one. Ignoring your limitations is the easiest way to get yourself killed. I've been exposed to painfully low temperatures a few times in the past and I trust that I'd be able to survive the tunnel, but my body would resent it and it could take me a while to get back in shape. You and May haven't had my training; something like that could be too much for you."
"Does that mean we're still heading to the ruins of Shantar?," Timper queried.
"I don't know," Erin sighed. "We're not certain that we'll be able to find anything there. We may have to rethink our strategy. Going North has brought us closer to our enemies, but not close enough to know where their base is. And we still don't know what's brought them together, so in other words we don't know what we're dealing with. And we've come far enough for that to be a serious issue."
"How about tracking the attacks to their source?," Eric suggested. "I know some of them use portals, but I don't believe they all use them. They're too different from each other and we've never seen many of them together. I'd bet there aren't any strong bonds between them. At least one of them must have left something we can track them with."
"That's a good point about them not sharing strong bonds," Erin noted. "But they still know more about us than we do about them. Even if we can track them down, they'll be ready for us. We need to find a way to figure out what we're up against."
"I could try to identify any magic they use," Mariel offered.
"So can we," Jamie added.
"Yes, Jamie's quite the expert in detecting magic," Mildred said. "And intentions. If we can plan on the spot, we shouldn't be too worried about our enemies knowing more than we do. But I'm afraid they must have become stronger now that they have Shadowy Meadow."
"They don't have it," Mariel said.
"What do you mean?," asked Mildred.
"From what you've told me, they destroyed the focal point rather than claiming it for themselves. The only magic left from Shadowy Meadow is yours and Jamie's, and you're with us now. If anyone has any of the power of that sacred place, it's us."
"I'm afraid our magic is not as strong when the forest's not helping us," Mildred said.
"I don't know about the forest, but you can count on our help for anything you need," offered Gallead.
Mildred looked at him, and at her sister who seemed to be about to doze off in his arms, her head resting on his chest.
"Right... maybe not all is lost."
"I like the sound of your heart," Jamie commented in whispers. "It's similar to mine. We can't be that different."
Gallead kissed her head. "I think our souls are alike."
Erin shook her head and turned to Timper, refraining for making her comment in a loud voice.
"Are we going to put up with those corny scenes for the rest of the journey?"
"Maybe," he replied. "I admit I'd never say the things they do, but let them be. They have the right to do whatever makes them feel better. Remember they've had different experinces, and have different problems than we do. Even if Gallead and I are both explorers, we don't have much in common other than that."
"Because you don't both say crazy things in the name of love, right?"
"We say different kinds of crazy things. Wait... did you just say love?"
"I think we should set the watches for tonight. We're eleven, so maybe 4 pairs and a trio will do, if the sisters are fit enough to get a shift."
"Alright, I get it. We can change the subject if you want. But I think 4 watching shifts would be best, it's been quite an eventful day and pairs could easily get distracted. We'll still need one pair, so that can be you and me; we wouldn't lower our guard."
Erin nodded.

"Alright, everyone, we're arranging the watches for tonight. We need 3 groups of 3 for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th watches."
"I'll take a shift with Mildred, if that's ok with her," Ralph requested. "I have quite a few questions and things I'd like to talk about."
"I guess it's ok, but you'll need someone else with you," Erin said.
"I'll join them," May offered.
Erin contemplated the trio. Two humans and a little girl. Not the kind of group she would have chosen, but it was just for a night watch after all.
"Ok, don't hesitate to wake up the others if anything goes wrong," she accepted.
"Who do I go with?," asked Jim.
"You can take a watch with the boys, and I'll take one with the girls," Pura offered. "I think it will be more effective than putting the couples together. It's only for 2 hours anyway."
"A watch with Mariel?," Jaimie spoke in a low voice, forcing her eyes open. "Yes, that would be interesting. Can it be the last one, though? I'm so exhausted..."
"Ok, I'll take the third watch with Jim and Gallead, then," Eric accepted.

The first watch was uneventful. Erin and Timper spent it trying to make plans for the following day, until they decided to trust the intuition of those with refined perception. The L word wasn't mentioned again, but it didn't leave their minds and they both knew it.

During the second watch, Ralph thanked Mildred for saving his life, and asked her questions about what being a witch was like. She offered to teach him some basic magic to help him defend himself. He said he wouldn't know how to repay her, but she assured he'd have more than a few chances to help her handle herself in a vast world she knew so little about. May watched the humans as they spoke, sighing every now and then.
"Are you ok?," Ralph asked her after a while.
"Hm?," May's head perked up. "I'm fine, thanks for asking."
"You don't look so good."
"I... I was thinking."
She looked down and to the sides in an uncomfortable manner. Finally, she raised her arms and her sword appeared in her hands. She handed it to Ralph.
"I want you to have this," she said.
Ralph looked at her, startled.
"Your sword? Why? I can't take it. It's yours!"
May shook her head. "I told you I've been thinking. I'm not good at using it. Arrows I can manage, but wielding a sword is too hard for me. I lose balance and get all the wrong angles and... well, you've seen it yourself. On our first training battle you disarmed me easily. And you used this sword a lot better than I did. I've noticed you don't have a sword with you, and you'll need something to fight with now that you're coming with us. I already have my arrows and my fire, I don't need this."
"This... " Ralph examined the blade and felt the sword with his hands. "This is amazing! Are you sure you want to give it away?"
"I want to give it to you. I've never been more sure about anything."
May looked certainly determined.
"In that case I'll accept it. Thank you. I'll take good care of it."
He thought of putting it away, but immediately realized it didn't have a sheath.
"Just, how do you...?"
"Oh! Sorry!," May blushed. "I forgot to explain how to use the storage system. I've been using this kind of weapons for so long it's become natural to me. Just hold it in front of you like this... No, a bit higher, the tip must be higher than your head. That's it, now you swing it forward, cutting the air like this... ok, that's right, just a little more pressure. It's easier if you send energy through it, any kind of energy will do."
"How can I do that?," Ralph asked.
May was stumped. She didn't know how to answer such a basic question. She remembered learning how to use a self-storing device, but releasing energy, particularly heat, was as basic as speaking, walking or flying. She knew she had to have learnt at some point, but she had no idea how she'd done it, nor if a human could do the same.
"I'll help you with that," Mildred offered, noticing May's predicament. "Once you start working with energy and become sensitive to it, channelling it through an object is quite easy. If you practise hard you'll be able to light torches like the one I gave you by channeling the energy around you as well as your own, but that may take some time. This, I'm sure you can learn tonight."
May had to accept having Mildred teach him. She did quite a good job; better than May herself could have ever done. By the end of their shift, Ralph was able to put away his new sword, though he had to resort to May to find out how to take it out. May was glad that she could still be of some use to him, and taught him with a smile. Once the lesson was over, they went to wake up Eric, Jim and Gallead, though they all took a while to fall asleep again.

The third watch was spent on small talks, some tinted with hope and some others with nostalgia. Eric asked the others what their favorite places where, and found out that the three of them had some hidden place of subtle beauty. Jim's was a tall hollow tree with red wood, which he used to get into and use as a hideout, as well as a viewpoint. It was on top of a hill, and standing on its highest branches gave him the impression of having the whole world at his feet. He could go higher than that by flying, but it wouldn't give him the same feeling. "You need to be at rest to be on top of the world," he explained. Gallead's favorite place was a tunnel he had found in one of the mountains that surrounded the Valley of Winds. The wind would blow through it making a musical sound. He had often used it as a musical instrument by blowing through it himself, and he had hung threads with different kinds of stones inside it to create different sounds. Sitting on any part of the cave one could listen to a concert that would never end and never repeat itself. "It's a true wonder," he assured. "I could stay there for hours and not get tired of it, and I would always find new sounds no matter how many times I went there." As for Eric, his favorite place was the Cave of Light, for more than one reason. One was its beauty, which he had no trouble describing. Gallead, who had heard the story of his first encounter with Mariel, had no difficulty in figuring out what the second reason was.

As for the ladies shift, it went quite well. Mariel's company was reassuring for Jamie, and they spent the first hour discussing spells, potions and their views of the world in general. Pura joked about whether Jamie was sure that Mildred was her sister and not Mariel. Of course the physical aspect defied any arguments, but the comment made the two spellcasters laugh. On the second hour, everyone was silent for the most part, just making a few comments every now and then but mostly lost in thoughts. Pura didn't like her own thoughts. They were filled with too much uncertainty. She missed the times when she knew what the following day was going to be like, when she didn't have to worry about losing those she cared for, and when making a mistake that would endanger her whole race was as feasible as getting Erin to sing at a party; and also when she was certain that the fearless travelling mage would come back at the end of his journey.

The group had no trouble getting up the next morning; only May wished she could sleep a bit longer, as she was sure that her dreams were more enjoyable than anything she was likely to find awake. When faced with the inevitable question of where to go, the travellers decided to follow the path the witches had come from until someone could find a better clue or until the conditions became too harsh to continue. After a few hours, they reached the point where Jamie and Mildred had spent the previous night: a large hollow tree that stood alone in the snow.
"The ice passage is less than a day's walk from here," Mildred assured. "But I don't think it will lead us to our enemies' base. We found no sings of any living beings on our way out, unless the energies that attacked us count as living. I have the feeling that was just a place for storing those energies."
"All the more reason not to go there," Erin argued. "Not unless we can be certain that we'll find something valuable there. Can't any of you sense our enemies with your magic?"
"I've been trying to do that since we got up this morning," Mariel told her. "They're still too far away. But I'm starting to feel something..."
"Something? What kind of something?," asked Eric.
"I don't know exactly. But it's strong... powerful. It feels like it's always been there, but only now I'm beginning to notice."
"Which direction?," Jamie asked her.
Mariel made an effort to focus, and then pointed to the Northwest.
"That's..." Jamie focused all her attention into what she was sensing. "Something in the light and something in the air, I remember now. That's what the light was hiding. But it was confusing back then, now it's clearer."
"Then please make it clearer for us too," Timper requested. "I'm afraid I don't understand a word of what you're saying."
"I felt this as I woke up on the day I met you," she explained. "It's some kind of power... probably ancient."
"Is it good or bad?," Eric queried.
"I don't know... It could be either."
"I should have learnt more connection magic," Mildred scolded herself.
"We need to find out what that is," Mariel decided. "It could be vital. The way it pulsates... as if it were calling us. As if it had been calling us since before we left on our quest, and only now we stopped to listen."
"I'm not sure that answering the calling of something mysterious and powerful that can be either good or evil is a good idea," Eric warned her.
"It's too late for that," Mariel revealed. "We've already answered. Just like many others have, not even knowing it. It all makes sense now. The random attacks at the beginning of our journey... they didn't share a common source, they rose because they felt something was changing, and so did we. Only they rose to cause damage, while we're trying to fix it. There may be more like us, fighting on our side like our friends at Twocastle. Many have answered the call. But few will take part in the final battle... the one that will decide which side this power will lean to... this time around, at least."
"How do you know all that?," Eric gave Mariel a worried look. She seemed so distant!
"I... I'm not sure," Mariel replied, turning to look at Eric with a more normal expression on her face. "I think I established a connection with the power for a moment. It was... overwhelming. So vast... so old... I wish I could know the details: what it is and what it can do. But I think I know more than I did before. And what I'm worried about the most is... I have the feeling this isn't the first time this power's been awakened, and I doubt it will be the last time. I'm scared to think of how many wars may be held in its name."
Eric stroked Mariel's back with his hand, partly to make her feel better and partly to reassure himself with her touch, proving that she was still tangible.
"Eternity can't be solved in one day," he told her. "Not even in ten millenia. It takes eternity. We can't do anything now to make sure the world will have peace forever, but we can do something to make sure it suffers as little as possible in this one war."
"Wow, you have become wise!," Mariel commended him. "I mean, you always have been, but now you can express your thoughts a lot better."
"I must have learnt from you," Eric smiled.
"Well, thanks for bringing me back to the present. You're right, that's what we should worry about right now. Whatever the future brings, we'll deal with it when it comes up."
"So does that mean we're going in that direction now?," asked Ralph.
"I think it's our best choice," Eric answered. "If that's what's been causing all this trouble, it's there where it will be solved. Besides, what Mariel said matches what Seren told me back at Twocastle, so we must be on the right track."

*************************

Seren descended from the watchtower. There was no need for a watcher when the battle had already begun, and she couldn't get herself to see the fight from up there and wait for death to come to her. She preferred to go for it herself, to die close to her friends. She didn't want to be alone anymore. She'd already been too lonely when she lost her old home, her family, her friends... "At least this time I won't be left to mourn", she told herself. She could feel it, she wouldn't live to see the night. Ever since she left the ruins of the place she called home she'd known she was living on borrowed time, and upon arriving at Twocastle she'd known that would be the place where she would die. Of course she could have changed it, she could have gone away and possibly lived a little longer, but what for? To live alone, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to? She was needed in Twocastle, and she needed the others too. But they wouldn't need her anymore after that day. She had served her purpose, she'd done all the good she had managed. Now it was time for her story to come to an end. She'd never told anyone what she knew. She didn't want them to suffer like she did. But was she suffering now? She surprised herself with that question, and looked inside herself while the battle was raging around her; the feeling was bittersweet. She was sad that she hadn't been able to do more, and a bit afraid of the pain, but not of death itself. The idea was starting to feel a bit exciting, facing something that she knew nothing about... and hopefully being reunited with those she had lost. If only she could do something to help her friends right now... if only she were good at fighting like Gavin, or at using magic like Galmand. But no, all she could do was... "Wait a second!," she told herself. "Maybe not all is lost!"

She slithered across the halls and along the corridors of the large tower. The small castle had been evacuated in the morning (everyone in Twocastle took Seren's warnings seriously) and all the small creatures who hadn't fled were either fighting outside or gathered inside the large tower, most in the two refuge rooms, and those who could set up magical defenses in the main hall. Seren followed the unmistakable blue light to find Galmand among the small crowd. He was shining brightly, as he was using most of his power to maintain a shield that would make up for the breaches in the walls. She hated to break his concentration at a moment like this, but she needed to: it was important.
"The magical energy point must not be extinguished," she told him.
"Huh?," Galmand was caught by surprise, with too much on his mind to figure out the meaning of an obscure phrase. "We're doing what we can to save this place," he replied, unsure of what Seren really wanted.
"Not the place, the magic," Seren precised. "Just... no matter what happens, don't get lost."
"Alright," Galman said, hoping that Seren's words would make sense to him eventually.

When Seren spoke, it was normally important and it wouldn't be wise to ignore her; but at that moment Galmand was too busy to engage in a conversation. He'd have to meditate on her words later, when the current battle was over, or when he was presented with the possibility of getting lost, whatever that meant. But now he was exhausting himself; each rock thrown against his shield made it harder for him to keep it up, and there was a large hole on the wall in front of him through which he could see his friends and allies fighting an army of shadows. The current battle had been going on for many hours and there had been many others before that one. Everyone was starting to wear out, but not the shadows: when a shadow's body was starting to give up, all it had to do was snatch a new one. The first wave of shadows, which had come a month earlier, had been easily defeated because they were disorganized. But these shadows were perfectly coordinated, as an experienced commander was with them. The shadows acted not only as an attacking force, but also as a flesh shield for ther leader. Only Gavin had managed to reach him, after two hours of blowing away shadow soldiers and dodging their attempts to claim his body. Now Gavin and the commander were fighting each other: a battle between two faerfliye warriors. The rest of the fighters were focused on keeping the shadows away from Gavin, while all those who weren't warriors defended the fortress; or at least the big tower. There was no telling how this was going to end; and much to his own surprise, a part of Galmand's mind was starting to drift away from the fortress and the battle. He wondered if he'd be able to keep his promise of seeing Pura again.

*************************

Hours had passed, and the eleven travellers had encountered no problems. Everything was too quiet. For a while they wondered if they were actually on the right track, or if they were headed to a trap. But if it was a trap, it was too obvious. There was only one possible explanation for such calm, they concluded: their enemies' attention was currently focused elsewhere. They decided to make the best of their forcefully brief period of invisibility, and covered as much distance as they could. Hills became more frequent in the landscape, and some mountains could be seen in the distance. If they headed to the East they would reach the Valley of Winds in about two days, as Gallead informed them, but that wasn't their destination, although Jamie told him she would love to visit it someday. They made only a short stop when they found some fruit-bearing trees, and collected some fruits while Mariel practised her vegetal magic making new fruits grow in their place. Other members of the group used the break to relax a little, particularly Jamie and Gallead who were soon found playing with the wind. Erin didn't understand how they could leave their problems behind and enjoy themselves like that, but she let them continue and found herself wishing she could do the same.

Night was about to fall when they reached the base of the nearest mountain. They agreed that climbing it up would help them get a view of what lay ahead, but it soon became too dark to keep climbing, and the group had to search for a place to camp. Pura, Mariel and Jamie provided light until they could find a cave that was big enough for all of them. They had taken their places inside and were about to arrange the watches for the night when something caught the attention of the three spellcasters as well as Pura's; something that was too big to ignore.

"What's going on?," asked Gallead.
"A crossing," Mariel said. "It's coming this way... not just one, but many!"
Pura's heart skipped a beat. "It can't be!," she shouted, flying towards the entrance of the cave. "No, please don't let it be like this!"
"Why is Pura acting like that?," Eric asked. "Is this the same thing you felt when we left Kharchek's maze? You said that was a crossing, right?"
"Right, but this one is massive," said Mariel. "And I'm afraid I know where it comes from."
"The second focal point has fallen," Jamie nodded with sadness.
"No!!!!," Pura cried, her voice audibly breaking. "Don't let it end like this... please don't leave me."

Something happened at that moment... something that surprised everyone. The light around Pura's body intensified, and the silhouette inside it grew larger, until a female shape could be clearly distinguished, as well as the large transparent wings behind her back. "Please stay with me," she whispered, oblivious to the looks of those around her. And all of a sudden, her light began to change, adopting a more blueish tint, like a lavender flower. It then faded a little, as she collapsed on the ground, her 15.5 cm tall body clearly visible.

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸, ø¤º°`°º¤ø ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

And of course, we have previews:

All she could feel was warmth, and all she could see was a bright indigo light, which turned purple when she spoke into her mind, and blue when the replies came to her, in a tone that was soothing, but also sad.

"That wouldn't make much of a difference. No place is safe right now."
"Please don't start sounding like Seren," Eric begged her. "It hurts too much if it comes from you."

"I won't be satisfied until I see the power myself."
"Then I guess you'll never see it. Without faith, you'll never pass the trial."

"May I ask you one more thing?," she queried.
"Yes?"
"What was your trial?"

It was a cruel world, and dwelling on what she had lost would only tear through her carefully-built shell and cause her more suffering than she could endure. Living a lie was her only means of survival.

[Charizard04621]

*gasps* Gabi, you've done it again! I can't wait for the next chapter now. What's going to happen? What is a crossing? Is everyone in Twocastle gone?

It's nice to see that people come together most when difficult times are ahead, but also sad that those are the times when they lose each other the most.

I'm hoping to see more ^_^ And now I'm very interested in Miranda. I'm wondering if she'll break her pact with the opposing twelve. And now that Night is a shadow, who is going to replace her and Day?

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks a lot, Karin.
Very interesting an insightful questions. I can't answer them, though. If I answered them all, I'd spoil most of what's left of the fic. I'll help you answer one, though.

The meaning of the word 'crossing' was explained on chapter 21, and Pura felt a crossing on chapter 17.

[Charizard04621]

Ooh! *goes to research* Thanks, Gabi! ^_^; I also forgot to mention that I'm worried about Pura. I don't think she's going to die, but I can't help but have a bad feeling about the crossing at Twocastle.

[EDIT]: o_O Oh, my... I can't believe I forgot about that. *shudders* A mass crossing sounds so terrible now that I understand what it means.

[Lady Vulpix]

December has always been a particularly busy month for me, so I'm amazed that I've been able to finish a chapter this month. Then again, I started it 2 months ago.

This may ease your worries about Pura... or maybe not completely. I just want to point out that I came up with this back in 2000, and now you may know what I felt when I read Lune years later.

And chapter 27 is Infinity Valley, which is one of my favorite chapters (that's probably obvious from the fact I stuck an Infinity Valley on Pixie Island), so I may have it done at some point in January.

Without further comments for now, here's chapter 25.

Chapter 25: Trials

Pura lay on the ground, motionless, tears drying on her cheeks. She couldn't feel the rock that supported her body, nor could she see the looks of her worried and perplexed friends. All she could feel was warmth, and all she could see was a bright indigo light, which turned purple when she spoke into her mind, and blue when the replies came to her, in a tone that was soothing, but also sad.

"What have I done?," she asked herself.
"You've worked a miracle," the blue light in her mind responded.
"Have I? At what cost?"
"We'll worry about it when the time comes. I believe your friends are reliable. There are circumstances under which rules have to be broken, especially when following them endangers what the rule was meant to preserve. In this case, our lives. Don't you think so?"
"You would have turned me into an outlaw if you'd had your way back in Urthum."
"That was never my intention. I just wanted to give you freedom. You were so stressed..."
"School will do that to you."
"I know, I went to basic school when I was a kid, remember? But I soon found out I could do better by teaching myself. Books, practice, travels, trying to learn from everyone I crossed paths with... of course I can see how that doesn't work for everyone."
"Is it me, or is your whole life flashing before your eyes?"
"It's you. It's your eyes."
"Now that's the saddest joke I've ever heard. You know, when I asked about the cost I wasn't only referring to the secret. What about...?"
"Shh. Relax. You have more than enough to worry about already, that one worry belongs to me."
"You can't tell me not to worry about you!!"
"Nothing bad can happen to me now. You've already saved me, and now things can only get better. And they will get better, I promise. I must admit I'm impressed. I knew you had potential for a lot of things, but I didn't know you could use connection magic, let alone cast such a powerful spell!"
"Neither did I. I've been feeling presences for the last few months, and having some hunches and channeling Mariel's connection magic, but I didn't give it much thought with everything that was going on."
"Amazing. You've developed a natural ability for tuning into the souls of others. I'd only heard vague rumors about that happening before."
"Other lurians?"
"Different races. I don't think that's a factor. Though now you'll have to admit that I was right about you being special. Of course that's not why I said it. You'd be just as special without that ability."
"I'm not so sure about that."
"I am. You were the only one who listened to me when everyone else thought I was crazy. You gave me your support even when I was bending every written rule and breaking every unwritten one, and even though you weren't willing to do the same yourself, you respected me, and cared for me. You used to keep that beautiful voice of yours to yourself, but you sang to me in Urthum and even trusted me enough to get on the stage in Twocastle and sing for an audience of strangers. And I must tell you, everyone was delighted! They kept asking me who you were and where I'd found you. But I didn't give them your name."
"Let me guess. You said I was a mysterious lady."
"You know me well."
"You're sad." She couldn't be sure of how she knew it, but she could feel it.
"I was just... thinking about them. We all knew what the risks were, but it's sad to know I'll never see them again."
"Are they all... gone?"
"Some of them fled before the last attack. They might have survived. The rest were either killed or expelled by the shadows. We were being pulled by a powerful force. I thought it was the end, but then your image came to my mind and I clung to it... and then you caught me."
"What happened to the girl who was on the stage before me?"
"The shadows took her when they broke into the tower. She was helping me keep up the shields, but we both flinched for a second when we saw Gavin die. I'm afraid that was all it took."
"Gavin is dead?"
"Killed by another faerfliye, the commander of the last wave of attacks. They fought for hours."
"Did he say his name?"
"Before the battle, he introduced himself as General Wilson of the Army of Twelve. I don't know what that means, there were far more than twelve creatures in his army."
"I'll have to ask Erin. She may know, but she's not going to like it."
"Because he's a faerfliye?"
"Because he's someone she knew. She suspected he was involved in the attacks, but I'm sure this will be a blow for her. She's more sensitive than she lets out."
"We'll still have to tell her. Your friends need to know what they're facing."
"What shall we do?"
"In the long term, try to retrieve my body, find out as much as we can about this Army of Twelve and stop them from harming more innocents. In the short term, I think opening your eyes and sitting up would be a good idea. We'll have a lot to explain."

And so it was. As soon as the group became certain that Pura was alive and well, questions started raining on her. From the obvious questions about why her light had changed colors and how she'd got so big, to less practical ones like whether her current situation felt odd, and more insightful ones like whether Galmand's body was safe and what direction he was being pulled towards. It came as no surprise that it was the same direction in which Mariel had felt the mysterious energy earlier.

"I think that's most likely where we have to go," Mariel concluded. "We're bound to find answers there."
"Or it could be a trap," Eric warned her. Mariel smiled briefly.
"That wouldn't make much of a difference. No place is safe right now."
"Please don't start sounding like Seren," Eric begged her. "It hurts too much if it comes from you."
"Seren was right, in a way," Pura said. "She knew she was going to die in this war. She confessed it a few seconds before she did. But she was wrong about all hope being lost, and she realized it during the final battle, or at least that's what Galmand thinks. She told him not to get lost, and to preserve the magic of Twocastle."
"That way our enemies could only have a void victory!," Mildred realized. "It all makes sense, they hunted down the two focal points and destroyed the places where they were located, but couldn't take their magic. The magic's still with us."
"Oh, that's right, you've never met before!," Pura exclaimed, getting many puzzled looks in response. "Sorry, it's just... Galmand asked me if you were one of the keepers of the southern focal point. The mages at Twocastle used to feel the magic of Shadowy Meadow."
"And we felt theirs," Jamie replied. "It was good to know we were not alone. Though I wished we could meet under better circumstances. Now it's up to us to maintain what's left of the power of the two focal points."
"Can Galmand still use his magic?," asked Eric.
"He should be able to, if Pura can channel it," Jamie answered.
"He says that shouldn't be a problem... give or take a few words..." Pura blushed. "He thinks I have a natural talent for that sort of thing."
"Well, we already knew you did, right?," Mariel told her. "You've been channeling my magic better than anyone else ever has."
"Thanks. I guess I could make it work. But that doesn't help me feel any less worried."
"If they haven't destroyed Galmand's body by now, I doubt they'll be doing it any time soon," Timper asserted. "I would assume they'd keep some bodies for the shadows, and some for experiments. They'd be particularly interested in a body of an unknown race. At least until they can figure out what species it belongs to. It's a cold and blunt analysis, but that's how I believe they must think. I think we still have some time."
"If that's the case, it may take them quite a while to figure it out," Pura said. "Lurians lose our lights when we die, I think it must be the same when a soul is pulled out from its body. If they think we're just small spots of light, like most beings do, it will be hard for them to make a connection. Although..." her expression changed as she spoke, becoming gloomier, "if they learn about the ability to change sizes, they may put two and two together. And they'll know we're neither harmless nor invulnerable. And they'll destroy our villages, not just our crops. And it will all be my fault."
"Stop it!," Eric yelled. "How in the world could it possibly be your fault?"
"Because..." Pura had to think for a few seconds. "Actually not the reason I was thinking, but... I still could have prevented it. I shouldn't have let him stay at Twocastle. I should have known that Seren was certain about their fate, rather than just worried."
"Fate isn't written in stone," Eric assured. "If it were, none of what we're doing would make any sense. Why fight if the result is already set?"
"I think that's what Seren thought," Pura commented.
"Right. Then she stopped fighting. And that's why she died. She fulfilled her own prophecy."
"But what about Gavin? He had faith in what he was doing and he was still killed by Wilson."
A sudden chill ran up Erin's spine at the mention of Wilson, but she couldn't say the news was completely unexpected.
"Fighting doesn't grant you a victory, but giving up always guarantees your loss. Didn't they say that at school?," Eric reminded Pura.
"As a matter of fact, yes, they did," Pura smiled. "And you, as the brilliant student you were, had to remind your teacher of her own fault: forgetting the things that really matter. Galmand scolded me for that earlier too; sometimes I pay so much attention to the rules that I forget the essence behind them. Like worrying about my friends finding out my race's secret when knowing about each other can only help us protect our lives, which was the only point of keeping it a secret in the first place."
"Speaking of protecting our lives..." May began. "We're not going through the ice tunnel, right? Just to make sure, because... that wouldn't be healthy."
"I think there's no reason to go there," Mariel replied. "The energy call came from a slightly different direction. I think we should follow it, and get ready for whatever trials we have to face."
"I can assure you the trials won't be easy," Erin stated. "We should have another training session before we go. We're twelve now, it's a hard number to manage. We'll need to be able to work as one if we want to stand a chance against Wilson and his group."

*************************

Meanwhile, in a particularly dry open field, a group of red creatures were holding a training session of their own. Like Seren, they had large snake-like tails instead of legs, but rather than erecting their tails to stand up, these creatures coiled them on either side of their bodies, often changing the direction so quickly it was barely noticeable, and even using their tails to hold large stones which they flung at each other, or wrapping them around their opponents to limit their movements. Their skin was bright red, and the hair on their heads ranged from dark red or maroon to black. The males had beards the same color as their hair. They all wore metallic breast plates and belts, some of them wore stone collars, and most of them held swords or knives with curved or wavy blades that they switched from hand to hand. Males and females seemed to be equally matched. They fought and wrestled in pairs for nearly an hour, until one of them, a female, sunk her wavy sword into the ground.

"Let's stop," she told her partner. "I'm fed up with this."
"Are you giving up?," he questioned her.
"No... Well, maybe. It's just I don't see the point of this whole thing."
"We're fighting for power beyond our imagination. What point can't you see?"
"Well, first of all, if it's beyond our imagination, how can we have any idea of what it is, or if it's worth fighting for?"
"Twisted logic, word games. Power is power. It's always worth fighting for. Fighting itself is worth fighting for."
"Maybe, but I still don't trust these guys. Especially the quirran, she gives out disturbing vibes."
"You're just uneasy because she's water-based, but she never made an attempt to attack us. She seems to want to help. I think she's the most agreeable of all."
"It's not that she'll hurt us. Not while we're so many anyway. But she seemed nervous around us. As if she was afraid she might lose her authority."
"That's ridiculous."
"What are the grounds for her authority anyway? Why do any of them have authority over us?"
"They said it themselves, they've all been tested by the Power and passed the trial. Now it's our turn to do the same. If we pass, then we'll be equals."
"I won't be satisfied until I see the power myself."
"Then I guess you'll never see it. Without faith, you'll never pass the trial."
"Who decided what the trial would be anyway? I bet it was not the Power. I bet it was them."
"What does that matter? We pass the trial, they welcome us into their ranks, we get the power. What's so hard for you to undersand?"

The female sighed. She hated to be treated like an idiot by someone she considered linear-minded, but just because he was linear no words from her would make him change his mind. As if training with him wasn't enough torture, she heard a fake cough and turned round to see the quirran staring at her. Where had she come from? Her blue skin, a reminder of her element, was not as intimidating as her piercing glare.

"Having second thoughts, Iwa?," the quirran questioned.
Iwa hesitated. Would confronting her be a good idea? She opted for something subtle.
"I was just wondering what this power you've promised us was. It's hard to fight for something when you don't know what it is."
"When you don't know, invent," she recited. "In this case, fight for what you want. The Power won't disappoint you, but until you find it, if you do, create your own cause to fight for. Give yourself in to the role."
"Role? We're not actors, we're fighters. And this is life, not a stage."
"One day, if you're lucky, you'll realize there's no difference," the quirran said.
Her glare faltered for a moment, almost betraying her thoughts, but the trainees did not know her well enough to realize what she was thinking. Nobody did. She was lying. There was a big difference between life and a play: acting didn't hurt; as much as her character may suffer, she knew it wasn't real, and it was all over when the curtain went down. She wondered if death would have a similar effect, but she brushed the thought away. She wasn't ready to die yet, she had not made her statement to the world.

"You have a new assignment," she changed the subject, getting everyone's attention. "A group of warriors are coming from the Southeast. They're intent on destroying our Power, and although it can't be destroyed, they may cause us trouble and ruin the cementing ceremony. You must not let them pass. They look weak, but appearances are deceiving. This will be your final trial. If you succeed in stopping them, or if four or fewer of you come out of the battle still fit to fight, you will be accepted into our ranks."
Most of the fighters nodded, but Iwa still had doubts.
"May I ask you one more thing?," she queried.
"Yes?"
"What was your trial?"
"I'm not going to answer that. Just know that it was hard and painful, but I passed it."

With that, she turned away. She'd never tell anyone what her trial had been. It hurt just to think about it. So far everyone else had killed someone in order to join the Army of Twelve. Her murder had been metaphorical, but not any less trying than the others. She'd had to kill who she once had been, giving up her old life, the thoughts of the future she had once yearned for, even the hope of finding her son. She'd given up searching, and made not thinking of him her top priority, even though she sometimes couldn't help it. He was probably dead anyway. It was a cruel world, and dwelling on what she had lost would only tear through her carefully-built shell and cause her more suffering than she could endure. Living a lie was her only means of survival. All she could hope to do was leave a mark on the world... Make sure that those who had hurt her, and those who would hurt her given the chance, remembered her name.

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸, ø¤º°`°º¤ø ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

And the customary previews...

They spent a night in the clearing, and were out of the forest the next morning, past the first mountain by noon, and in trouble in the early afternoon.

"I could give you some survival tips if you want. Maybe then I can begin to repay all the things you've done for me."
"I'd love that..." Mildred smiled. "But I think it'll have to wait. The heat is getting stronger."

The group used their chance to gain some terrain, while Eric pulled up his sword and wondered in whispers how that had happened.

He used one of the two spells he knew to keep her blood from pouring out of the wound and held her against his chest, determined to protect her from anything that came their way while unsure of how to do it, and praying that the fight would end soon. At least the embreals seemed to avoid the wavy sword he now held in his hand, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the sword was sucking his hand and forcing him to hold it.

All that and more (now that's a cliché), on chapter 26: "Cursed encounter".

[Charizard04621]

o_O The previews look scary. I wonder what those red things are, and whether they're the embreals. They sound vampiric although I assumed they had a fire element.

I slap myself for not noticing this chapter sooner! It was very interesting and gave lots of insight into some of the more intriguing characters ^_^

Will Galmand every get his body back, or is he forever bound to Pura? And what happens if she's injured? Would he be affected in the same way?

Can't wait to see what happens next. I want to know about Infinity Valley!

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks for your reply, Karin. Interesting views, as always. Of course I can't tell you what the future holds for Galmand, but he's currently attached to Pura's body rather than his own, so yes, if Pura was hurt, he'd feel it, though his body wouldn't be affected. As for the creatures, yes, they're Embreals (described as 'deformed red snakes' by Day on chapter 21). And they're indeed fire-based and not vampiric, but not all has been said about them (I wouldn't want to spoil next chapter for you).

Infinity Valley is only briefly mentioned in chapter 26, and it won't get its name until chapter 27, but you'll get to see it eventually. I hope it doesn't disappoint you, I loved that place back in 2000, when my thoughts were mainly focused on Jamie and Gallead, but I'm stil unsure of how the chapter will turn out.

[Charizard04621]

Gabi, the only thing that'll disappoint me is if you don't keep turning out all these wonderful chapters. ^_^

[Lady Vulpix]

Wow, thanks, Karin! Now, just as I had announced, it's some point in January and I've finished writing chapter 27, so chapter 26 is here for you! Please keep in mind that I'm still struggling with action scenes, so if you intend to comment about the battle, please say something I can take into account in the future rather than just saying it was bad or a real battle would never be like that. Thanks.

Chapter 26: Cursed encounter

The group advanced slowly, with the caution of those who know things are going to get worse before they get better. They trained whenever they had a chance, always leaving someone out to watch the perimeter. Jim and May had the hardest time training, having their reactions impaired by the cold weather in addition to their little experience. Even so, they made some progress; they gave it their all, because they knew their own lives were at stake. After a while, Ralph managed to heat the blade of his new sword thanks to Mildred's dedicated work as a magic teacher. Erin struggled to appear unphased by the cold, while Timper did his best to make things easier for her in every way he could. Jamie and Gallead sometimes seemed to be in a world of their own, but provided valuable contributions to the group's discussions and had an impressive performance in the training sessions for two beings who hadn't been trained to be fighters. As for Eric, he rose to the task of maintaining the group's morale, especially since Mariel seemed to lose more confidence the closer they got to the source of the mysterious energy, and Pura had never been gloomier, Galmand being unable to infuse her with hope when he was so uncertain about his own future.

It was under these circumstances that they reached a clearing in the thick forest they were going through. It hadn't snowed in the last few days, and the remnants of the latest snow had turned the soil into sticky mud. Jamie, who was carefully listening to the faintest vibrations in the surroundings, detected an underground stream of water. They quickly dug a hole to fill their canteens and were about to get going again, but Jamie suggested staying there for a while. They were all tired and, even though it was a clearing, that place had a certain aura of safety. The forest was surrounded by mountains; it would be hard for their enemies to reach them there, unless they were airborne, and even if they were someone was bound to spot them before they could attack: perception was currently the group's strongest point. They spent a night in the clearing, and were out of the forest the next morning, past the first mountain by noon, and in trouble in the early afternoon.

It hadn't gone past them that the ground was dryer on the other side of the mountain, and the air warmer. Most of them were actually grateful for the latter; all save for the elves and Gallead, who didn't mind the cold much and found the sudden warmth too unusual for comfort.

"This place must be home to a group of heat-emitting creatures," Timper reasoned.
"Don't most creatures radiate heat?," asked Ralph.
"Oh, most of us do, but I'm talking about heat emissions intense enough to alter the landscape of the place they inhabit. Faerfliyes can do that, but only for brief periods of time. Well, there may be some exceptions..." he looked at Erin and snickered, remembering the time when she'd almost set fire to an entire forest, before he resumed his explanation. "There are some creatures who radiate intense heat almost permanently, adjusting the environment to their needs rather than adjusting to it."
"Yes, I've heard about them," Gallead confirmed. "They have to stay in groups for it to be effective, though. That's why they hardly leave their homes. All the best, since a trait like that could wreak havoc on an unprepared environment."
"In that case, where are they now?," inquired Erin.
"Out to lunch?," Eric ventured. "It's just past noon and I don't see anything edible around here, they must go somewhere else to eat."
"Your guess may be right," Mildred told him, staring into a passage ahead. "There's something very hot in that direction."
"How do you do that?," ask Ralph. "How do you learn to feel heat in the distance, and vibrations, and all those things?"
"The same way you learn to listen and understand the meaning of the sounds," said Mildred. "Concentration and practice."
"Wow, and I thought I knew a lot about identifying my surroundings. Now I feel I know nothing."
"You know how to survive a heavy snowstorm without magic, from what I've heard," Mildred told him. "I can't think of many people who would endure what you have."
"Building a small shelter of snow can shield you from the wind and falling snow, and help you keep your warmth, the rest is just endurance. There isn't much to know about it."
"Well, I wouldn't have thought snow could protect you from itself. I would have tried to make a shield and a fire, but it would have been hard to keep them both up. I wouldn't have lasted long."
"You lasted through the ice passage, a cave filled with evil forces and a shadow attack."
"Only because Jamie was with me. I wouldn't know how to survive on my own against something like that... or even a snowstorm."
"I could give you some survival tips if you want. Maybe then I can begin to repay all the things you've done for me."
"I'd love that..." Mildred smiled. "But I think it'll have to wait. The heat is getting stronger."

Like she said, the heat was growing in intensity, and soon everyone in the group could feel it. It wasn't long before they could see some red shapes approaching. As they got closer, the group could see there were ten of them; seven males and three females, all with red skin, straight dark hair and long, snake-like tails. They slithered until they were close to the newcomers and then they stopped, facing them. From the look on their faces, they didn't seem to like visitors.

"Who are you and what is your business here?," a maroon-haired female inquired.
The travelers looked at each other.
"We're going to the North," Eric answered vaguely. "We're just passing by this place, we didn't know it belonged to you."
There couldn't have been much more innocence in Eric's words, but his interlocutors didn't see it that way.
"Of course it belongs to us!," one of the males roared. "You're an elf, aren't you? You should have seen the nests with the keen eyes your kind are so proud of."
"Nests?" Eric looked around. A careful inspection revealed a set of circles on the ground that seemed to be made by stirring the earth and throwing some dry grass on it. They didn't look like any nests or beds he'd seen before, but now he could notice they seemed to have been made intentionally.
"Sorry, I didn't know they were nests," he apologized. "I guess none of us knew. We have no reason to stay here, so if you let us pass, we'll continue our journey and not bother you anymore."
"No one passes through embreal territory except the embreals!," yelled the same angry creature. "You think so highly of yourself... think you can ignore us and get away with it... disturb our homes and walk away like nothing happened!"
"What's your business in the North anyway?," queried a black-haired female. "It's no place for the weak. If you're going there you're up to no good... or about to face your death."
"Why? What's in the North that's so dangerous?," asked Eric.
"Well... for starters... US!," yelled a brown-haired male, hurling a stone at him.

Unprepared for such a sudden attack, Eric couldn't do much to dodge it and the stone hit his left shoulder, causing and intense pain and impairing the mobility of his left arm. The group was left with no time for deliberations, and they all set themselves on guard. More rocks came their way, but this time they were deflected with fire, shields and light balls, Timper acting as a shield for Eric's injured arm.
"I wish we had their armor," Eric whispered to Timper while he did what he could to stop the embreals' attack, pinning his sword to the ground and sending a shockwave through it, causing the ground ahead of him to shake.

The tremor was more effective than Eric had expected. It hadn't been his strongest, but it caused half the embreals to lose balance and fall on top of each other. The group used their chance to gain some terrain, while Eric pulled up his sword and wondered in whispers how that had happened.
"Most slithering creatures rely heavily in their connection to the ground," his shield spoke out. "Especially if they're earth or fire-elementals. Earth elementals could do something to counter your attack and stabilize themselves, but fire ones don't have much of a chance against an earthquake. Unless they can fly, that is."
"Then I guess we're lucky they can't," said Eric, swinging his sword to keep an incoming embreal at bay.
The five who were still up were coming for him, while the others got up as quickly as they could and aimed for the rest of the group.

The embreals had thick skin, but not so thick that Eric's hardened sword couldn't easily cut through it. When his attackers became aware of it, they kept a safe distance, but continued attacking with their tails and hurling stones at him whenever they could. Being heavily outnumbered, Eric couldn't keep deflecting the attacks for a long time, and one of the tails wrapped itself around him, constricting him painfully and burning him at the same time. Timper acted fast, and turned into a replica of Eric's sword, sinking into the offending tail and causing the embreal to scream and release his grasp. Eric cut the embreal's tail while Timer jumped off it and resumed his own shape. Then he caused another tremor, stronger this time, which threw the attackers away and caused a couple of them to be caught in the wounds of the ground as they sealed, and all of them to be hit by debris. It was an impressive display, but Eric was completely worn out when he finished. He stood on his feet out of sheer willpower, but his wounds and exhaustion prevented him from issuing any more attacks. He was lucky he was not alone.

Erin didn't have much trouble fighting the embreals. Their heat didn't affect her, her small size made her hard to hit and her sword, while not as hard as Eric's, was a decent match for her opponents' weapons. They soon decided to keep away from her until they were done with the others. Pura was initially regarded as a minor annoyance and ignored, but when she, with Galmand's help, cast a barrier which held three embreals in an area not much larger than the sum of their bodies, they started trying to take her down. They might as well have tried to hit light itself, as none of the blows they aimed at her managed to connect.

The others were having more trouble. They stuck together, trying to find strength in numbers, except for Mariel who ran to assist Eric as soon as she found an opening. Only Ralph and Jim had weapons that could deal any damage on the embreals, Swift being too light a weapon to inflict more than minor cuts on them, and May's arrows being as effective as sewing needles. The witch sisters worked together on a protection spell, but before they could finish it the creatures noticed the chanting and one of them put an end to it, attacking from behind as soon as she found an opening, and sinking her wavy sword into Jamie's back. Galmand caught her before she fell while Mildred screamed in horror. Ralph turned around and hit the embreal with the sword May had given him, while Galmand removed the blade from his loved one's flesh. She winced as it went out, even though he was as careful as possible, but in a way he was relieved to know that she could still feel pain. That meant she still stood a chance if the battle didn't go on for much longer. He used one of the two spells he knew to keep her blood from pouring out of the wound and held her against his chest, determined to protect her from anything that came their way while unsure of how to do it, and praying that the fight would end soon. At least the embreals seemed to avoid the wavy sword he now held in his hand, but he couldn't shake the feeling that the sword was sucking his hand and forcing him to hold it.

Mariel's shield and unlimited supply of light balls were able to repel most ranged attacks, and once Eric was able to hold his sword again, he held it firmly against their enemies. It would take some time before he could use magic again and his body was in less than top conditions, but he was determined to show them he was far from beaten. The embreal whose tail he had cut had long since fled, and so had the two who had been caught underground as soon as they had managed to release themselves. The three the lurians had caught had struggled in vain to break free from their invisible prison, and were now frozen for reasons the group couldn't understand, though they realized there was magic involved. Only four remained: three males, and the female who had hurt Jamie. She was now disarmed, and the other three seemed to have trouble holding their own weapons, and kept changing them from hand to hand, and even holding them with their tails for brief intervals. This gave their opponents plenty of chances to strike at them. Most of the group didn't know what was going on, but were grateful for the opening. Jamie did realize what the embreals' problem was, but she was in too much pain to speak. Gallead noticed her intention, however, and put two and two together.
"It's their swords! They're cursed!," he revealed to his companions.

He tried to release the enchanted weapon, but couldn't. It had cast a vacuum around itself that stuck Gallead's hand painfully to its hilt. He didn't dare turn into wind to break the sword's hold on him, afraid that if he did, it might absorb him completely. Erin noticed his predicament and flew in his aid, pulling the sword away from him after storing her own. It took time for the sword to adjust to its new holder, giving her a chance to wield it against her enemies and enforce the fear they had of her. One of them tried to stop her, and held his own sword against her. Bad move. She stuck the cursed sword right under his wrist, and his hand froze in a second. The embreal screamed in pain. Erin's hands were starting to feel too cold, so she pulled back and left the sword on the ground, close to her friends. The embreal who had tried to attack her was now attempting to get his own sword out of his frozen hand, but was only achieving to hurt his other hand and tail in the process.
"He'll freeze completely if someone doesn't cut his arm," the female said, without a hint of compassion.
"Then do it," one of the mails told her. "Pass the trial."
She gave him a sharp look, and wrapped her tail around the hand of the embreal between them. This caught him by surprise and, before he could react, she had already taken his sword and was heading towards his partially frozen comrade. The embreal whose sword she had stolen tried to follow her, but the other stopped him. She held the blade up, and chopped off her companion's right arm. He let out a loud cry and looked at her with hate in his eyes, but did nothing. He knew she'd just saved his life, even though there could have been another way. He crawled back into the woods without turning his back on anyone. The female snorted and looked at her remaining companions, one of whom was still holding the other tight.
"Let him go, Owal," she said. "He's won't make a move against me."
Owal released his captive, who looked at both his partners before turning away, calling them both crazy.
"Whatever you're aiming for isn't worth the things you're doing," he said as he left.

The travelers didn't make a move. They'd been watching in astonishment as the embreals dealt with each other in such a rough way. Now only two remained: a male and a female.
"Do you still want to fight," Erin asked them, a hint of threat in her voice, as she pointed her own sword at them.
"We're clearly outnumbered. It wouldn't be fair," the female replied.
"True," agreed Owal, the male. "You've earned the rights to this land. We're leaving now. But we shall meet again."
It sounded more like a statement than a threat.

The group let the embreals go. They wouldn't attack an enemy who had already surrendered and didn't have the strength to fight back. But before they left, Gallead demanded to know the female's name.
"Iwa," she replied.
He promised to remember it.

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Preview time:

Mariel thought for a moment. She didn't know what Jamie wanted her to say either, but it was clear that her human friend was trying to tell her something.

"Not all magic is the result of spellcasting," Mildred told him. "Some of it is natural. Magic's been a part of the world since the world exists, long before there were beings who could tap into it."

The first thing they did was dig a hole on the ground where the water was closest to the surface, until the blessed liquid started pouring out. When it did, it flowed down the path of its old course, turning to the right until it reached the hole again, and then pushing its way past it, and turning left till it met the center once more.

He smiled, saying to himself: "this must be what being at home feels like".

"What exactly did you do to their weapons?"
"Oh, I made them more powerful."
"They turned against their wielders."
"I guess the battle must have lasted for too long."

"Ah, well, there was that," she admitted. "But I recovered from that too, so my statement holds."
"Exactly how did you recover?"

"There's a whole world out there. We could make a home out of it."

And the title for chapter 27 is, as I said before... Infinity Valley.

[Charizard04621]

Wow, cursed swords! o_O I wonder how Erin managed to cast off the sword without it being stuck? And Iwa - she took her companion's sword without being afraid of it, and showed no sign of suffering like the others did. Was this because she was disarmed, or can sheer will power break the spell of the swords (Erin has plenty of that)? Looks like we'll see that in the next chapter.

The battle was quite interesting; it's nice to see that everyone has a personal style of battling. Don't worry so much about being action deficient, Gabi; you're being too hard on yourself. ^_^

Can't wait for the next chapter.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks, Karin.

Well, next chapter explains a bit more about how the curse works. It's not that the swords themselves were cold, they reacted to those who touched them, and it took time for the curse to take effect. Gallead was stuck because the sword created vacuum where his hand was touching it; Erin wasn't because it reacted to her in a different way. She did feel cold after a while and got rid of the sword. But your theory was interesting.

As for Iwa... she acted desperately, but didn't stay in contact with the sword long enough for it to freeze her.

I'm thinking of making chapter 28 a short one, and have it diverge a little from the traditional flow of the story (not all the chapters can have the same structure, it gets monotonous), so chapter 27 will be up soon.

[Lady Vulpix]

Alright, time for a new chapter.

Chapter 27: Infinity Valley

There was a small forest ahead, and on the other side lay a long chain of mountains. Everyone could see them, and knew they wouldn't be able to get past them in their current state; especially Jamie. Her wound had stopped bleeding thanks to the healing magic used on her, but she was unable to hide her pain, and walking had become a very difficult task for her. Eric, on the other hand, had no trouble walking, but his burns hadn't healed completely, and it would have been too hard for him to climb all those mountains before he recovered. Almost everyone agreed that staying on what had been the embreals' home was the safest bet, even if it was a rather exposed area. But a faint voice caught the attention of those who were deliberating just when they had reached the decision.
"Water... please..."

It was the first time Jamie had spoken since the battle. Mildred ran to her side and gently poured some water from her canteen into her sister's mouth.
"How are you feeling?," she asked once Jamie had stopped drinking. The black-haired witch closed her eyes and shook her head.
"It hurts," she replied, but quickly changed the subject. "The valley..."
It was clear that she was making a great effort to speak. Mildred didn't want to push her, but she needed to understand what her sister was trying to say.
"What about the valley? Which valley?," she asked.
"Were we slept last night... we must return."
"What?! Are you crazy?! We'd have to get past the mountain again. You're not fit enough for that."
Jamie shook her head again, and called for Mariel. The elvin joined Gallead and the sisters.
"Please tell them," Jamie requested.

Mariel thought for a moment. She didn't know what Jamie wanted her to say either, but it was clear that her human friend was trying to tell her something. She listened carefully with her mind and her heart, and then an image came to her: a clear stream of water flowing below the ground, turning its course until it reached its highest point right above its lowest, and then turning again until it reached its lowest point once more, eternally looping, flowing into itself. Mariel picked her cantine and examined it. She hadn't paid much attention to it before, distracted by the strength of the power she was following. It had been Jamie who had found it, and who had realized its true potential.

"There's magic in the water," she finally revealed. "Old and powerful, waiting for a chance to emerge. It can help us if we help it."
"If it's so old and powerful," Timper interjected, now that the whole group was listening, "wouldn't it be dangerous to mess with it? Who knows who cast that magic, and for what purpose?"
"Not all magic is the result of spellcasting," Mildred told him. "Some of it is natural. Magic's been a part of the world since the world exists, long before there were beings who could tap into it."
"So my teachers said," agreed Mariel. "This magic doesn't have a signature I can sense. It must be natural."
"But how are we going to go back to the valley?," asked Gallead.
"And what are we doing with those three?," added Eric, pointing towards the frozen embreals.
"See if they have money in their pockets?," Timper joked.
"So we finally get to see your less honest side," Erin said. "But it doesn't look like they have any pockets."
"I was just kidding, it's a popular phrase among travelers, you know... 'What do you do if you find a dead body on the road?'..."
"That's disgusting!," May complained.
"Sorry, young lady," Timper apologized with a ridiculous bow.
"Stop doing that!," Erin laughed.
"If it makes you laugh, I'm not stopping," he did it again for her, causing her to chuckle.
"Maybe Timper has a point," Eric said after reflecting for a moment. "We could use their armors. It's not like they'll have any use for them. But I wonder... what caused them to freeze like that? We didn't even touch them, and none of us can use ice magic."
"I was looking at their reactions throughout the battle," Erin told the group. "It seems to me that someone set them up. They weren't fighting just us, but also..."
"The swords!," Gallead exclaimed with a dawn of realization.
He took a look at the short wavy sword which now lay on the ground.
"It hurt me as I held it," he revealed, "but also protected me and Jamie from the embreals. They wouldn't come near it."
"But if Jamie was hurt by a cursed sword..." Mildred began, worried.
"I'll get better," Jamie assured. "The valley."
"We're going," Eric decided. "Just let us get the armors."

Eric tried to pull the armor off one of the embreals, but it was stuck to the frozen flesh. He could see that all three of them were holding their swords firmly, with their blades toughing each other. In their frantic struggle to break free from the barrier, they had condemned themselves. When Erin tried to help him, the breast plate she tried to pull out broke into pieces, and she could see that some of it had melted before it had frozen.
"We're not getting anything out of these three," she finally gave up. "Let's go."

Eric picked up some of the fallen shards of metal before turning to leave with the others. He was planning to leave the cursed sword behind, but Mariel argued that they might need to study it in order to undo the damage it had caused. She wrapped it up in one of the pieces of cloth she carried to hold herbs with or use as bandages, and which Mildred protected with a spell, and put it in her backpack. Gallead, Ralph, Timper and Mildred helped Jamie cross the mountain, sometimes holding her arms or letting her lean of them, and sometimes -whenever the terrain allowed it- lifting her up and carrying her. She took a sip of water every few minutes. Eric assured he was fit enough to cross by his own means, but Mariel didn't leave his side and kept a close eye on him as they advanced. They were back in the valley before the sun began to set.

The first thing they did was dig a hole on the ground where the water was closest to the surface, until the blessed liquid started pouring out. When it did, it flowed down the path of its old course, turning to the right until it reached the hole again, and then pushing its way past it, and turning left till it met the center once more. Gallead felt the need to dig down that path to help the water follow its course without spilling or being absorbed by the earth again, and asked Timper to help him. Sooner than they had expected, the infinity stream was flowing before their eyes, in all its glory.

Gallead was charmed by the beauty of the stream, by its unlikely flow and by the grass which was now started to grow on its shores, but a stronger thought took him out of the trance. He ran to Jamie's side and help her to the new shore.
"I'll take it from here," Mariel offered.
Gallead understood, and nodded, turning to tell all the other males to leave the girls alone. Pura left with them, for obvious reasons.

It was a long wait, especially for Gallead who couldn't stop worrying.
"She'll be fine," Eric reassured him. "Mariel is with her."
"Don't you need some help too?," Timper asked him.
"I'll let her see me when she's done with Jamie, she needs her more than I do right now."
Timper nodded, and changed the subject. "Odd creatures, those embreals. They seemed to have a strange code of behaviour. I've never seen others act the way they did, and I've known many different cultures."
"Yes, they acted strangely," agreed Pura. "And they probably did have unusual rules, but they weren't just following their own rules."
"Why do you say that?," asked Eric.
"Did you hear what they said about a trial? Someone was testing them. And I felt a presence with them in the field. Or, rather, behind them."
"A presence?"
"I couldn't see where it was, but someone was watching among the trees. And it felt familiar."
"You mean it was someone we've met before?"
"It could be... Galmand seemed to recognize it too. If we hadn't had to maintain the barrier and avoid being hit, we would have looked more into it."
"Well, something's obvious," Timper concluded. "Our encounter wasn't accidental, as they made it out to be. They were expecting us. Our enemies must know where we're going. They may not have expected us to come back on our steps right after a victory, but in any case they'll soon find us again."
"We need to protect this place," Pura said. "To help us gather enough energy to go back to the fight, and make all the plans we'll need."
"Can we do that?," Eric asked.
"We can, once Jamie's feeling better. She and Mildred can teach us and Mariel the spell they used on Ralph's village. I it was strong enough to expel the shadows, it should be able to make this place safe enough."
"Sounds like a plan," Eric said, "but the way you're starting to speak of yourself in plural sounds freaky."
"I was referring to me and Galmand. Odds are he's going to learn the spell and I'm going to channel it. I can use very little magic on my own, and I use half of it unconsciously."
"Well, it's more than I can do," Timper remarked. "I wonder why I've never been able to cast a spell. It would have been so useful..."
"No one can be good at everything," Ralph told him. "Magic's harder to muster than those who use it make it seem. I've been working on a spell to create fire since May gave me her sword, and so far all I have managed was to produce some heat. It must take a lot of dedication for anyone who wasn't born with a natural talent. You wouldn't have been able to spend so much time learning about different places, races and cultures, and all those things that help us so much. And on top of it you always seem to know the right thing to do, even when there's no time to think about it, so you shouldn't be complaining."
"Oh, please!," Erin dismissed the comments as she came from the stream. "The last thing he needs is more flattery. He provides himself more than enough of that."
"I admit that's true, but how do you manage to appear at just the right time?," Timper asked, but was quelled by Gallead's question.
"How's Jamie?"
"Much better," Erin replied. "Either that stream works miracles or the wound wasn't as bad as it seemed. She's no longer in pain and all that was left was a small scar."
"Can I see her?"
"She's getting dressed now, she'll be here in a minute."
"Wow, I never thought she'd recover so fast," Timper commented.
"The sisters and Mariel were speculating," Erin said. "Apparently there was magic involved... a curse or something. I didn't get much, you know how they get when they start talking about intertwined threads and such."
"Intertwined?," asked Pura. "Was it a combined spell?"
"You can ask them yourself. They should be coming soon."

Everyone waited for a few moments, until the girls made their appearance. Mariel told Eric he could use the water now, but he didn't want to miss the rest of the conversation, so he decided to stay for a while. Gallead welcomed Jamie in his arms and asked her how she was feeling.
"I'm fine, thanks to you and Mariel, and the healing waters," she replied.
"Me? What did I do?"
"You removed the blade before it could do too much damage," Mariel told him, "and kept her stable until we could treat her. You've probably saved her life. If that cursed blade had remain in her body much longer..."
"I keep hearing about a curse. I knew there was something wrong with those swords, but what is it?"
"It's complicated," Mariel began, but Jamie made a better attempt at explaining.
"It was a negative curse, which absorbed the main element of those who touched the sword, and especially the blade. It responded to each element with its opposite, and its effect became stronger the longer one kept touching it."
"Jamie's non-elemental, so the curse couldn't find an opposite for her, but it caused her intense pain, and we believe it could have caused severe physical damage if it had stayed in contact with her flesh and blood," Mariel finished.
"You're finishing her sentences now? I thought I was supposed to do that," Mildred joked.
"Did you manage to undo the spell completely?," asked Pura.
"We cured the effects it had on her," Mariel said. "We haven't been able to remove the curse from the sword, but Jamie wants to test if she can do something with it."
"Won't that hurt you even more?,"Gallead asked Jamie.
"I'll be careful," Jamie promised. "I'm not going to touch it until it's safe. I just want to try and see if I can turn it into something useful. The main problem is that the curse works in all directions and the hilt doesn't block it completely... and it seems to be a combined spell; I think I know who cast it, but there's an energy pattern in it that I don't recognize, so I may not be able to undo it completely, but maybe I can change it enough to make the sword safe to hold, and use it to our advantage."
"It sounds dangerous."
"Being alive is dangerous. Especially in a war. This can help us make it through the dangers we still have to face."
"I'll trust your judgement," Gallead told her. "But be careful."
"I will."
She sealed her promise with a kiss.

It took a while before Jamie could take care of the sword. First, she had to help the other spellcasters protect the valley. She stood on the Southern edge while her sister stood on the North, Mariel on the East and Pura and Galmand on the West. With their thoughts connected, they all repeated the chant she and Mildred had pronounced at Ralph's village, and then gathered at the center of the valley to seal the spell. It was a small area, so five points were enough for the spiral of life to be effective. After that, they had to rest. Eric used the chance to heal his own wounds, while Jamie took a nap and Gallead took out his sketchbook, which he hadn't used in weeks, and filled pages of wonders born out of a new sprout of inspiration. He drew the stream and the mountains, some landscapes he created in his mind, and Jamie in all of them. Now he realized he'd never been so worried before, and right then, knowing she was alive and well, he was experiencing the happiest moment of his life. He smiled, saying to himself: "this must be what being at home feels like".

*************************

Jor and Day sat by a fireplace. Day didn't care whether it was hot or cold, but he'd rather be with Jor than with Haggaus or Wilson (especially how that Wilson kept bragging about his victory over Twocastle), and he'd much rather be with him than with his own thoughts. Jor didn't say much, he just looked at Day as if to study him, and smiled every now and then. It was annoying, but being annoyed was better than being furious with no way to release the rage. It wasn't that he didn't have things to break and creatures to hurt... it was that doing so reminded him of Night and made his suffering worse.

"We'll get them in the end," Jor finally said. His words were rewarded with a startled look. "Oh, come on. I've seen open books which were harder to read than you are. Much harder, in some cases."
"If you think you can insult me just because you conquered that little meadow..."
"Hey, relax! I'm not insulting you. And you should know by now that it's not like me to rejoice on past victories. You need to look forward if you want to get anywhere in life."
"If you're so smart, tell me how I am supposed to look forward."
"You can derive strength from your suffering. You have so much raw power! You just need to learn to focus it. I believe having the world at our feet will help you put things into perspective. Besides..." and here he smiled again, "not all's said and done yet."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean even someone like Haggaus can make mistakes... overlook things. Life is indeed full of surprises."
"Don't talk to me about the elf's mistakes," Day roared. "I've already seen the worst of them."
"Sorry, I won't touch the subject again," Jor kept smiling to himself. It was irritating. "I guess I'll be off to meet the new members and watch the troops."
He stood up and was about to grab the doorknob when a spider ran out of it and up the wooden door.
"That's enough," Jor spoke to the spider. "The act is over."
"It never is," the spider replied, jumping off the door and assuming the form of a female shakast upon landing on the floor.

Jor examined her. Her clothes were a bit too revealing for his liking, but then again what they revealed wasn't the real thing. Her shiny white hair was somewhat attractive, but she hadn't been able to get rid of that air of fakeness that always surrounded her.
"Not bad," he concluded. "But it shows you're not real."
"I am real," she replied instinctively, but quickly corrected herself. "As real as anyone is, anyway. Who knows what 'real' means?"
That response caused Jor to chuckle.
"What a crew we've managed to assemble!," he laughed.
"Whatever," Miranda replied. "Two embreals are coming your way and let me tell you, they're not happy."
"Only two?"
"All the others were cowards, or good-for-nothings. Only those two passed the trial."
"Then they should be proud. I'll make sure they understand that."
"What exactly did you do to their weapons?"
"Oh, I made them more powerful."
"They turned against their wielders."
"I guess the battle must have lasted for too long."
"You knew that could happen, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"Why didn't you tell them?"
"It was a test, wasn't it? Those worthy of joining us should be capable of dealing with something like that."
"You should have seen them. Fire creatures freezing to death... it was horrible."
"I wish I'd been there to see that," Day commented with his first smile in weeks. "Can you use ice magic?," he asked Jor.
"I'm full of resources," Jor replied. "You'd be surprised... no, you'd be aghast at the kind of resources I have. The key is to be observant and to know where to search."

With that, he left the room.
"What did he mean?," Day asked Miranda.
"Beats me. But he always has that look of self-satisfaction when he leaves everyone clueless. Maybe he just does it for the kick of it."
"Shouldn't you watch him or something?"
"Me? Why don't you do it? You can turn invisible, can't you?"
"Only he doesn't need his eyes to find me."
"Same with me. I doubt even Haggaus could sneak up on him."
"I don't like this. We're all supposed to be partners, but I feel like I'm at the bottom of a rank that shouldn't exist."
"Don't expect sympathy from me," Miranda said. "All my sympathy wore out years ago. You want respect? Get it yourself. It's what everyone else is doing."
"Fair..." Day accepted the rules of the game. He then remembered something. "You were wounded in battle once, weren't you?"
"More than once, but nothing I couldn't recover from."
"No, I mean, seriously wounded. It took you many days to return."
"Ah, well, there was that," she admitted. "But I recovered from that too, so my statement holds."
"Exactly how did you recover?"
Miranda thought for a moment. She didn't know what to answer, the truth simply wasn't a choice. It wasn't even something she wanted to think of, it could feel her mind with unsound ideas. But she couldn't come up with a good enough lie either.
"Healing herbs," she finally said. "Powerful ones. And rest."
It wasn't strictly a lie, but it was something she could live with. Day seemed to accept the answer.
"I wish Night had had such powerful herbs when she needed them," he said.
"You should keep those feelings to yourself," Miranda warned them. "No, even from yourself. They can harm you."
She didn't even know why she was giving advice. It felt good to know there was someone who needed her help, but help wasn't something someone should give for free, others could get used to it and come to expect it. Besides Day wasn't even worse the effort. She reckoned he'd only been admitted because he was a heavy hitter, and because Night wouldn't have joined the army without him; and now he stayed only because he hadn't screwed up yet. Not that she didn't appreciate the presence of someone who was not in a position to give her orders, but that didn't mean he deserved her advice. Especially if it was the kind of advice that came from hard-earned experience. She decided to turn away and leave without further words.

*************************

Everyone else seemed to be busy. Eric had thought of a way to improve May's arrows with the shards he'd collected from the embreal's armor, and Mariel and Jim were watching and assisting in everything they could. And Pura was supervising or, rather, watching with curiosity. She had read about the process of making and enhancing weapons, but had never seen anyone do it for real. Ralph and Mildred were talking about their lives; Timper decided not to interrupt them, it was the kind of light talk that could turn into tragedy if someone said a wrong word, and he wouldn't risk being the one to put his foot in his mouth with something so delicate. Erin was... she had to be somewhere. She was bound to show up soon. As for Jamie and Gallead... they were playing with the wind and with each other, as if they didn't have a care in the world. They had even left their things lying on the roots of a tree. Gallead's sketchbook lay open on top of its owner's bag. It was too tempting not to look.

Erin approached slowly and quietly from behind. It was rare to see Timper so focused on something. She wondered how close she'd be able to get before he noticed her presence.
"Wow!," she heard him exclaim. "Now the stream really is blessed!"
She couldn't hold it any longer.
"Just what are you looking at?"
The sketchbook fell off Timper's hands a split second before he turned around.
"Erin! Where were you?"
"Out there. What's that thing you were holding?"
She got closer and picked it up. Then she examined the page for a few seconds, and turned it, and examined the next one.
"Now you can't blame me for looking," Timper told her.
"He never told us not to," she stated. "I think he likes others looking at his... ok, maybe not that one, that looks a bit more private."
She closed the sketchbook and handed it back to Timper.
"Put it back where you found it," she told him.
He complied.
"I must admit he really is a good artist," Erin said. "That was much better that the boring old pictures they had in Isthum, and he only used a carbon stick... or something similar."
"What about Shantar?"
"What about it?"
"Was there art in there?"
"Not much... at least I didn't get to see much. I guess everyone was too busy worrying about staying alive."
"Gallead worries about that too. And that doesn't stop him. It may even inspire him."
"That comes to prove we're all different. But we already knew that much."
"So, what was the art in Isthum like?"
"It was colorful... but boring. After a while all pictures looked the same. They were... I'm probably about to say something stupid, but they gave me the impression that they were all showing facts, but there was no feeling in them. I'm only just thinking about it, though. What I mean is I felt nothing when I saw them. It's different when I look at Gallead's drawings."
"Maybe he puts more feeling into his work, or maybe the pictures you saw in Isthum couldn't reach you because you wouldn't open yourself to them."
"To the pictures?"
"To the pictures, to others, to yourself... Do you remember what you were like when we first met?"
"I haven't changed. I'm still the same."
"Of course you're the same being, but now you're a lot more open... more free. Now you're not so afraid to trust others, and to trust yourself. Don't tell me you don't feel better now than you did back then."
Erin thought for a moment.
"Yes, I feel better," she concluded. "I still want to crush Wilson for everything he did, but I must admit that some good things have happened in my life lately."
Timper smiled.
"So maybe we should go to Isthum and take a look at those pictures one day," he suggested.
"Do you have a deathwish? If you manage to get into Isthum, and I don't doubt you could, they'll never let you out. Not unless you can prove that they can trust you, and they don't trust anyone."
"Come on, not everyone in Isthum can be like that."
"Isthum, Urthum... all Lurians. Well, nearly all of them, Pura's an outlier. And Galmand's something you get to see once in a lifetime if you're lucky."
"Then I guess we're really lucky that we've met them both. But that proves my point."
"I guess we are," reflected Erin, ignoring Timper's point. "If another Lurian had been chosen as Eric's guide, things would have been very different. Eric would have probably died in the maze. And Galmand in Twocastle."
"She's saved two lives..." Timper realized. "A supposedly weak and harmless creature most folks tend to ignore. Take that, prejudiced minds of the world!"
"You have an issue with prejudice, don't you?"
"I just hate it. And everyone in their right mind would. Lies are told about everyone everyday, and there are those who believe them and base their acts on them. And nothing good comes out of it. Do you know what they say about faerfliyes?"
"What do they say?"
"Well, not they exactly, but at least someone. I once heard someone said that faerflies have violence in their blood. That they'd rather die than stop fighting."
Erin meditated on Timper's words.
"Well, it depends on the situation," she finally said.
"You can't possibly be considering the possibility..."
"Relax! What I mean is that, if there's something worth fighting for... or against... something you just can't tolerate... that it will eat you alive if you stay with your arms crossed... If there's something like that then one's life isn't too much to risk."
"You mean... like Wilson?"
"Like Wilson and his Army of Twelve, whoever they are. They've caused too much suffering. They need to be stopped."
"And what will happen later?"
"Hm?"
"After they've been stopped. If we win the war, will you be willing to stop fighting?"
"I hadn't thought about it," Erin realized. "If we survive this war... If there's no more Army of Twelve... no more random attacks and innocents being hurt... I guess it would be nice to know what peace feels like, but then... what would be left for me to do?"
"Oh, I have quite a few ideas," Timper grinned. "There's a whole world out there. We could make a home out of it."
Erin looked straight at Timper's eyes, repeating his last words in her mind, before she spoke again.
"Are you proposing to me?"
"What would you do if I were?"
And she'd thought she had caught him off guard a few minutes earlier! She'd have to think about this carefully. One wrong word could ruin the rest of her life.
"If the war ends... and we survive..." she explored the thoughts carefully... "I'll think about it."

Timper smiled. He knew Erin. It had taken him a long time, but he knew her now. He knew that, coming from her, "I'll think about it" meant "yes, but don't press the issue". He could deal with that. He'd already become an expert in waiting for her. Now all he needed was to make sure everyone made it through the rest of the war with their hearts still beating. Not that it would be easy, but it was far from impossible. Especially now that the world had become so much brighter all of a sudden.

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...And the previews:

[i]Jaak had never considered himself normal, and as such none of his days were ordinary. But this was clearly the strangest day in his life. And it kept getting weirder.

"What happened here?," asked Jaak when words managed to come out of him.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"I wasn't even here when it happened," she said. "I've just arrived for the clean-up."

"Wow... You came up with that thought on your own?," asked the elf, surprised in spite of his sarcasm.
"You don't really know me, Haggaus. No one does."

"You're always asking questions and refusing to answer them. It doesn't do much for the team we're trying to build. Weren't you the one who came up with the idea of forming this group? Weren't you the one who said all twelve of us had to be equals? And I bet you almost believed your own words. Nice work... nice work indeed. Lying to others is easy. Lying to yourself is the hard part."

The title for chapter 28 will be... Change of perspective.

[Charizard04621]

Wow! Slow, but steady, Timper. ^_^ He's probably my favorite character - he seems to be just some guy that fools around a lot on the outside, but he's so much cleverer than that.

It's kind of sad what happened to Night... I wonder if Day will be a weak point in the army. It'll also be interesting to see how (or if) Miranda develops a relationship with the others.

Infinity Valley sounds like a wonderful place. Will the group get rest, or will the Valley be doomed to face an attack? And how will the natural magic respond?

[Lady Vulpix]

Yes! I made it! In spite of my 2 very demanding jobs, I managed to finish a new chapter! Thanks for your patience, everyone. Here's chapter 28.

Chapter 28: Change of perspective

Jaak had never considered himself normal, and as such none of his days were ordinary. But this was clearly the strangest day in his life. And it kept getting weirder. He had left a boring competition with his friends to follow a mysterious light that had suddenly appeared before his eyes. No one had asked where he was going. Jaak had wondered many times whether he was right to call them friends: they only acted like friends if he was in trouble, or if they were, but he could feel their envy each time he beat them and, still, he couldn't get himself to stop playing. He had competition in his blood. His father had won many games before he died, but no one had accused him of having an unfair advantage. Jaak felt it wasn't his fault if he was better than the others, and wasn't going to hold back and let others win just because they couldn't keep up; but that made the games rather boring, and hurt the relationship he had with the rest of the group.

The light had guided him to a circle of trees deep within the forest. Jaak had felt a change in the air as he walked into the circle. That was when he knew the light had been meant for him to follow it, as it had disappeared before a creature... a man of some sort, who had stood there looking at him... waiting for him.

Jaak and the man had had a long and very unusual conversation. He kept thinking about it as he strode back home. He tried to assimilate what the man had said, to decide what to make of it. But the thoughts wouldn't settle inside his mind: they were too fresh, and too unusual. The man was unusual too: he was tall for Jaak's standards, and maintained a perfectly upright position that made him look taller. He had white hair but didn't look old, and he was surrounded by an aura of light. Jaak wondered if he was an angel. He had heard stories about angels who came to deliver messages, and they always said unexpected things, had an aura of light around them and talked to their targets in private. But they were probably just a myth. Jaak had never met anyone who had actually seen an angel. And wouldn't the man have said it if he were one? Would an angel really have a special purpose for him?

His thoughts were cast aside when he approached his village and none of the usual sounds came to greet him. There was pure silence, as if all activity had ceased while he was away. He stopped moving, and listened carefully. He then heard slow steps, accompanied by a female voice. Approaching as silently as he could, he focused on the voice and tried to make out the words.
"...Still, I appreciate the... ...let you know when I can. ...and me straining myself so much just to hold that tiny wall of... ...have to work hard to catch up."

Jaak kept walking, and was shocked when his village came into view. There was nothing he could recognize as a house or a building of any kind. Not even the trees stood up. They were all piles of wood in the ground. Here and there he could see the remnants of broken furniture and clothes. There were no visible bodies, nor any signs of anyone he knew. There was just this strange woman standing on top of the rubble. She was tall, with long black hair and brownish skin with a pale tint to it. Her strange clothes were torn, and there was a wound on her right shoulder which was only starting to heal, but she didn't pay any attention to it. She seemed to be examining the place.

"What happened here?," asked Jaak when words managed to come out of him.
The woman looked at him, startled. The color of her eyes would have made an impression on a human, but Jaak was a takker, and that color wasn't uncommon among them. Though everything else on her was. There was a sudden change in her attitude. She stood upright, as straight as the white-haired man had, only -now he could see it- not as tall. The tone of her voice was firmer when she spoke.
"It seems there was a hurricane," she said.
"A hurricane? But how? The sky was clear this morning. And I would have heard it if a hurricane was coming. If it had..." he looked at the landscape in front of him again. He couldn't get himself to believe what his eyes were showing him. "...I would have heard something like that."
"Where were you when it happened?," she asked him.
"Not that far away."
"There are a few areas in the forest that are isolated from the rest of the world. They're surrounded by magical walls, or protected with spells of many kinds. Maybe you were in one of them when it happened."
"How would you know?"
"It's the only logical explanation. Or do you believe it really didn't happen? You're not really standing on a pile of rubble that used to be a village?"
"It used to be my village!," Jaak yelled, the truth beginning to sink into him.
"Oh," she said, impassive.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"I wasn't even here when it happened," she said. "I've just arrived for the clean-up."
"What clean-up?... Who are you?"
"I'm a member of the Army of Twelve. You met one of my partners earlier. We're looking for new members right now; beings with physical and mental skills, who can work amongst others like them and are eager to improve themselves, and who won't back off when faced with a challenge."
"So that guy's with you? I thought he was an angel."
The woman laughed.
"I could say he is an angel of some sort. An angel of war, always up on the front, delivering messages and finding candidates for the army... then again he did bring Kharchek, but even he helped out for a while."
"Kharchek? The merial sorcerer?"
"You knew him?"
"He was here a few times. We had some talks."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Sorry?"
"Sorry to be the bringer of bad news, I mean. Kharchek met an unexpected end a few months ago. He lost a fight against a motley group of creatures. One of us tried to save him, but he wasn't strong enough to endure the treatment. He'd gone through the treatment once before, and that weakened his spirit, I believe. It takes a very strong spirit to come out of that alive."
"Come out of what?"
"You'll find out in due time...if you join us."
"What do you want me for?"
"We've been watching you. Well... I have. I must admit I was impressed by your abilities. No one else was a match for you. And even better, you had the instinct. You kept going even though everyone else tried to bring you down. They were jealous idiots, the world is too full of them. Unable to shine by themselves, and trying to put stones in the path of those who can. But all their efforts are doomed to failure. Do you know why?"
"Because we're better than them," Jaak replied, with a renewed fire inside him.
"Exactly. I knew you had the spirit. And now, if you come with me, we shall proceed to the trial."
"Wait, where's everyone else? Why is the village empty?"
"Oh, we've been cleaning up after the hurricane. They couldn't use their bodies anymore, you know... but some of us may have a use for them."

Jaak was put off by the woman's words, and stepped back. Something was definitely wrong with her.
"Oh, I know it's gross, but you get used to the idea," she told him. "After all, what's the alternative? Leave them to rot? Then the small underground creatures would eat them and they'd end up turning into plants or earth or something. Everything is reused one way or another."
Jaak took some time to process the thoughts.
"What do you use the bodies for?," he finally asked.
"Some of them for research, and some for those who don't have bodies of their own."
"How can anyone live without a body of their own?"
"Shadows can. They just hang around until they find a body they can use, and then occupy it."
"It sounds scary."
"Oh, come on. You can't be scared of something like that. Most shadows are virtually mindless anyway. And if they weren't... they'd be just like any other creature, only with some different traits. If what they do sounds scary, or gross, it's just because of the way your culture sees bodies and souls. It's odd, because most cultures I've heard of seem to believe a soul should never be separated from its original body, and that's the only thing that can't be avoided."
"I take it you're not afraid of death."
"I don't know how that works, come to think of it. I suppose no one's going to stay in this world forever. There are some things I'd like to do before I die, but whatever comes next will be another challenge. I bet it will be exciting to face it."
"You're weird."
"Thanks. You too."
"Granted, but you're weirder."
"Am I? You've just lost everyone who was close to you. I would have thought you'd have broken down."
"I don't know... Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet... Or maybe they weren't so close to me as I thought. None of them really cared for me. As you said... they were all jealous... How exactly did you manage to watch me without me noticing?"
"I have my secrets. We all do. If you join us you'll find out you'll have to earn every bit of knowledge you can gather. It will be hard, and you'll have to face some tough challenges. Enemies are rising to fight us all the time. So far we've managed to bring down most of them, but sometimes at a high cost, and they still keep coming. Do you think you're up to the task?"

Jaak smiled. The offer sounded promising. Maybe too promising. He felt like he's been waiting for it his whole life. There was something unsettling about it, though. It seemed way too perfect, and the way it had coincided with a hurricane that stroke his village right while he was away and then left as if it had never been there was far too suspicious. But wouldn't it be interesting to figure out the truth? And even if it had been a setup, they might have done him a favor. And it would be great to be among people who could do something like that... people he might even have to work hard to keep up with! It was too good an offer to pass up.
"So, what's this trial you mentioned?," he asked.

*************************

Miranda walked into the library; one of the few rooms only the members of the Army were allowed into. Haggaus turned around to face her as soon as she stepped in. He examined her in the same way everyone else did whenever she chose a new form.
"What is it now? A shakast?"
"You didn't like my elvin form or, if I recall corectly, the dress I used with it. I thought you might like this one. Jor seemed to find it attractive. He had to remind himself that it wasn't real."
"It doesn't surprise me. Jor's mind is not that strong, that's why he's always resorting to others to help him carry out his plans."
"Funny, he doesn't seem to have that high of an opinion of you either."
"What did he say?"
"I don't remember his exact words. Something about overlooking things."
"Could he be...?," Haggaus began, but he stopped himself.
"Could he be what?," insisted Miranda.
"Nothing. Tell me, have you been to this library before?"
"Only when you showed me around," she said. "I don't like this kind of books."
"What kind of books do you like?," he asked with interest.
"Fiction."
"Figures."
"I guess it was obvious. Then again, I never meant to pretend otherwise. In a world of lies, it's nice to find the kind of lies no one expects you to believe. It's relaxing."
"And that was not a lie."
"Sorry," Miranda found herself apologizing, scolding herself for letting her guard down. "Then again, if everyone knew everything I say is a lie... wouldn't they be able to figure out the truth by negating all I say?"
"Wow... You came up with that thought on your own?," asked the elf, surprised in spite of his sarcasm.
"You don't really know me, Haggaus. No one does."
"I see. Nice work," he smiled.
"Thanks," Miranda replied, thinking he had complimented her rather than himself. "But what did you call me for?"
"I just wanted to know what you'd been doing lately."
"Supervising the embreals' training. I was with them until they decided to talk to Jor, and then they had this conversation and he took off with Day and some shadows to smash a small village and I went back to watching the snakes. Until Wilson said you wanted to see me."
"I see. So you've all been busy."
"All of us, yes. Except maybe Wilson, I didn't see him for a while until he came for me a moment ago."
"He was with me," Haggaus said, slowly stroking his chin.
"Is anything wrong?"
"Hm? No, no. Everything's fine. You may go now."
"Yes, I may. Or I may stay," she replied with a grin. "You're always asking questions and refusing to answer them. It doesn't do much for the team we're trying to build. Weren't you the one who came up with the idea of forming this group? Weren't you the one who said all twelve of us had to be equals? And I bet you almost believed your own words. Nice work... nice work indeed. Lying to others is easy. Lying to yourself is the hard part."
"And you'd be an expert in that," Haggaus recognized. "What do you want, Miranda?"
"I want answers. I want to know... to really be a part of the team and not just some pawn you move around."

Haggaus was shocked by this turn of events, but adjusted to it. Miranda had turned out to be smarter than he thought. He'd expected to keep her on his side indefinitely through manipulation. But this could be even better. If she really wanted to be a part of the team, and had the required initiative, she could be quite an asset to the group. He thought she'd never be as smart as Jor or Wilson, let alone himself, but that didn't mean she couldn't make a contribution to the cause. And, above all, if her heart was really into it, didn't that mean that all his efforts had succeeded, even beyond his own expectations? All things considered, the situation was delightful.
"Fair enough," he accepted. "What is it you want to know?"
"Two things: first of all, what's made you so worried? What's going on?"
He thought for a moment before answering, but decided it was best to tell the truth, since Miranda in her current mood was bound to spot a lie before it was even uttered.
"A book was stolen from this library."
"A book? What kind of book?"
"A spell book."
"How do you know it was stolen and not just borrowed? Jor has taken books from the library before, and then returned them. Isn't that what the library's for?"
"Yes, but I didn't see him anywhere near this building by the time the book disappeared. Wilson was close by, training his troops, but he's not interested in spell books, and he came to see me as soon as he finished the training session. And you say you were watching the embreals, and Day wouldn't know what to do with a book, I'd be surprised if he knew which side was up. No one else could have taken it, the library's protected by spells, only approved members of the Army of Twelve can enter."
"Could someone have used a spell to take the book out? I've seen Jor make portals."
"It would be extremely hard to create a portal into a spell-protected library, let alone place it exactly where the desired book is, and take only that one. Besides, I've checked for magic and didn't detect anything. A portal leaves a very clear trace."
"Then Jor was right. You did overlook something. Two things, at least. Day does know how to read, he's just not interested in books."
Haggaus looked at Miranda with poison in his eyes. He hated having his defects being pointed at, especially by someone he used to think he controlled.
"Since you know so much, you won't mind being in charge of the investigation," he told her. "Find out who took the book, how and why."
"What kind of spells did the book contain?"
"Negative polarity spells. Darkness, cold, vacuum... that sort of things."
"And are you sure it wasn't Jor? He's the only one who uses those spells anymore, isn't he?"
"That's what I want to know. If it was him, I want you to tell me why he pretended to be elsewhere at the time he took it. If it wasn't, I want to know who did it."
"What were you doing at that time?"
"I was tending to the orb of souls."
"Ah. Alright, I'll be on the case. But this leads to my second question."
"And that would be...?"
"You showed me the Orb of Souls once, said it was unbreakable and a source of ultimate power and then dismissed me and the others without much of an explanation. I want one now. How exactly does the orb work?"

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And now to prove there is such a thing as chapter 29...

"Bad things happen when you allow yourself that kind of thoughts. You're in the Army of Twelve now. Really in it. Start acting your part. Focus on the mission."

"Was it darkness magic?," asked Mariel.

Changing the world was hard, but she was determined not to let the world change her instead.

"Why is he doing that?"
"To take her mind off her problems, I guess. And it's working, at least for now. I didn't want to intrude, but... with something as notorious as this, it's hard not to."

And the title for chapter 29 is... Emotions. To be posted, hopefully, before the year ends.

[Lune the Guardian]

Long time no see, Gabi! I think my Charizard04621 account might have been pruned. I can't access it in any way. The e-mail under which I registered it was deleted for inactivity, and TPM isn't accepting my password. Oh well.

I'm glad that you found time to write. This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but very intriguing. It opens up many questions. Who is Jaak, will he pass the trial, what is he capable of, and what will he contribute towards the Army? Miranda has always been an interesting character, but is she overstepping her bounds? What will Haggaus do with her? And why is this spellbook so important? Negative polarity spells... I wonder who needed to do that, and why he or she would want to learn it in secret. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Keep writing, Gabi!

[Lady Vulpix]

I will, Karin. Thanks a lot. I expect you'll find the answers to all your questions in time. This chapter may explain a bit more. As for Miranda... Haggaus is going to keep a closer eye on her now, but she knows it. He's not her biggest threat.

Chapter 29: Emotions

Miranda wore a satisfied smile on her face as she left the library, but the expression faded as soon as she was left alone. She felt congratulations were in order. She had put on a great act, hadn't she? She'd managed to stand up against Haggaus and get some valuable information out of him! Information she knew she'd keep thinking of for a long time. He had tried to avoid telling her... said she wouldn't understand. She'd had to remind him that she could use magic, and insist that he told her what he knew and let her understand whatever she could. And what she understood was mind-boggling. She wondered how many wars had been fought in the name of the orb... how many more would still be fought after they were gone. Haggaus was an elf, he could live for thousands of years if he was lucky, but even he was bound to die someday, and then the orb would beat again, and look for another group of holders... possibly until the end of time. She had insisted that nothing was indestructible, and had to endure a lecture about how mortals can't deal with the concept of eternity, but had finally managed to get the truth out of Haggaus. And it had turned out to be virtually indestructible. She knew from plays and stories that virtually could be quite a significant word, but she also knew (even if she always said otherwise) that real life was different from fiction. In real life extremely unlikely things didn't happen unless someone made them happen, and no one would ever make something like that happen even if all the odds looked away and they ended up in the right situation and with the necessary inner strength. They wouldn't even want to. Why would they? But, Miranda had to admit, there was something unsettling in the concept of wars going on forever. Then again, wasn't conflict the nature of life? Wars would be raging all over the world even if the orb had never existed.

It was one of those days, she decided. One of those days when she released a lot of tension and a part of her relaxed as a result, leaving her alone with her thoughts. And then there was more tension, because her thoughts were the last thing she wanted to know about. They started innocently, saying things like "spring is coming soon", and then drifted off to the memory of a beautiful spring she was desperately trying to forget and, as if that were not enough, she ended up wondering how long it had been since things had changed, and whether he'd be turning 4 or 5 years old this spring. "Stop it!," she yelled. "Miranda, don't do this to yourself! He's dead. And if he isn't, then he's growing up into a heartless creature just like everyone else. He won't even remember you. Forget him already!"

She focused all her mindpower in trying to change the subject. She didn't even want to contemplate the unlikely alternative of her son having found a loving family and living a happy life, because that would make her miss him even more, and it would make her feel extremely guilty. And guilt was not a feeling she could allow herself if she wanted to survive. And it was an extremely long shot anyway. How many loving creatures were there in the world? None, as far as she knew. She had loved once, but only (she now thought) out of ignorance of the rules of the game. She wouldn't love anymore if she could avoid it. No one in their right mind would. No one cared for anyone. No one helped anyone...

...and then came the image of Day asking her how she had managed to heal after being badly wounded, and the other shifter telling her there was no need to fight, and the female elf giving up a powerful healing flower... just for her! It made no sense. "Better not think about it," she said to herself. "Bad things happen when you allow yourself that kind of thoughts. You're in the Army of Twelve now. Really in it. Start acting your part. Focus on the mission."

That finally did the trick. The mission was complicated enough to save her train of thought from being derailed. It had only been a day since she herself had said not even Haggaus could sneak up on Jor, and now she had to find out whether he was involved in the disappearance of a magic book from the restricted library. Her worries were only slightly eased by the thought that it was probably not him, because all the signs pointed to him; it would be too obvious. But then again, this was not a play. Maybe Jor wasn't a good script writer. She decided to move around in different shapes, trying to find any signs of the book, or anyone other than Jor using negative magic. She reckoned that whoever had done it wouldn't provide any hints anywhere near the base, so she looked for possible hideouts or practice areas. When everything failed, she tried to review the data Haggaus had given her. Apparently magic hadn't been used, unless the thief had managed to conceal it from Haggaus, which was unlikely. Jor had been away when the book was taken, and Haggaus had been tending to the orb... or doing anything else, but he was obviously not the thief because he wouldn't have been worried about it if he had it, would he? It might be a test... but it didn't feel like one. His concern had seemed honest and Haggaus was not a good actor. Wilson had been near the library at that time, but he'd been training his troops, a task which demanded all his attention. The embreals and savalls hadn't joined yet. That left only Day. He might have wanted to use negative magic in order to make up for his sister's absence. After all, they both used to strike together, Night sucking the heat and the air out of their unsuspecting opponents while Day kept them distracted with his attacks and dealt as much damage as possible in the process. But it was hard to learn spells of a new domain, especially those of negative magic, which went against all natural instincts, and Day didn't seem like the type who would get the handle of that so easily. She had to be overlooking something.

Overlooking... Jor had said something about Haggaus overlooking things. Whether he was involved or not, Jor definitely knew something Haggaus didn't. What else had he said?... Something about resources. He could have done it. He could have done it just for the sake of proving that Haggaus was not infallible. Miranda herself had made some nasty remarks only to show Haggaus his own faults. Haggaus was the kind of individual anyone would be happy to wave his flaws at. While Miranda did think that working alongside him was the best course of action, and was grateful for all he had given her even if he'd done it for egotistical purposes (the only logical reason for anyone to help anyone else), she found his arrogance irritating. Everyone liked to boast and pretend they were at the top of the world, but Haggaus seemed to actually believe it. And what was worse, he could make others believe it. Even she had, at first. She could picture Jor stealing a book from the library just to show Haggaus someone had found a way around his security. But that still didn't answer how he had done it. And she knew she wouldn't figure that out by herself. That brought her back to square one. She'd have to find a way to watch Jor, or to make him tell her what she needed to know.

What Miranda wasn't expecting was to stumble across Jor before she'd even decided to start looking for him. She had been flying around in the form of a robin, lost in her thoughts, when she saw him. He was surrounded by a small group of creatures. She didn't exactly know them, but some of them looked familiar. Especially the male neini and the female leenia with long teal hair. Miranda perched on the nearest tree branch to watch them. Jor seemed to be talking to the leenia, but he looked up as soon as she focused her attention on him. Then he faced the leenia again and told her to go back to her work in a loud voice which Miranda could hear clearly. The small blue creature looked up vaguely at the spot where Miranda was, found her and pierced her with a blood-red look before turning to leave. Miranda got off the tree and assumed her normal form. There was no use in staying there any longer, so she might as well talk to Jor directly.

"Good morning, Miranda," Jor greeted her with his usual bright smile.
"Good morning, Jor," she imitated the gesture. "You're using shadows now?"
"What gave you the idea?"
"Pale skin, red eyes... hard to miss. Of course I could look like that if I wanted to, but you're more likely to be followed by shadows than shifters, especially here."
"I don't know... I could have sworn a shifter was just following me."
"You're not that interesting," she lied. "I just like to know what everyone is doing."
"Have you gained any valuable knowledge from that yet?"
"Maybe. For one, I learned that shadows can glare. Makes you wonder what else they can do."
"Oh, they can do just about anything, really. They just don't normally have the will to do it by themselves. But they're quite handy if you know how to use them."
"Really? And what would you use them for?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Well... Wilson just uses them as killing machines, but that's not your style... It seems to me that you know other uses for them. Am I right?"
"Maybe. But it's none of your business anyway, now is it?"
"We're working together, aren't we? We'd work better if we let each other know what we're up to."
"Then why don't you begin? What have you been doing these days?"
"After supervising the training and trial of the embreals, you mean?"
"Yes, after that."
"Looking around for new potential candidates and making plans with Haggaus."
"You, making plans with Haggaus? I find it somewhat hard to believe."
"He can confirm it."
Jor thought for a moment, and then chuckled.
"Oh, I'm sure he must have plans for you alright, but I doubt they involve you doing any thinking."
"That can't be avoided. He's not using shadows like you are," Miranda countered.
She thought her insinuation would be far off from the truth, but she said it anyway, just to annoy him. However, the look in his eyes et her know she had unsettled him.
"Right," she smiled with satisfaction. "So that's what shadows can do. I would have thought they'd be rather cold."
"You're wrong," Jor said, regaining his composure. "I haven't done what you're implying. I'm only using them for more elaborate purposes than Wilson's."
"Is that true? What kind of purposes?"
"Do you remember when I said I had resources?"
Miranda nodded.
"Well, now you know what one of them is."
The shifter made an effort to recall what the conversation had been about.
"You said that to Day..." she remembered. "When we were talking about the embreals' trial. Did shadows help you with the curse? But... that would mean they can use magic!"
"I told you they can do anything... if they have direction. I also seem to recall something about that conversation. You looked horrified at how the trial had turned out. Like you weren't prepared to see someone freezing to death?"
"You know how I like to fake emotions... just for practice. You never know when you'll need it."
"Yes, it's well known that no one can believe what your words or your expressions say. But then again, if they say opposite things, one of them must be true. For your own sake, I hope your words are right this time. Otherwise you most likely won't live to see the end of this war. Things are only going to get tougher. This is no place for soft hearts."
"I don't even know what my heart is like anymore."
"Good for you. Now, if we're done with this conversation, I'll go and take a look at what the shadows are doing. You can't leave them alone for a long time or they'll stop working."
"Sure. I'll finish my watching round."

They both left the spot where they had met. Miranda's face was hard as stone, but she could feel something boiling inside her. Among all the lies she had told and all those she had heard, something had been way too true. She didn't even want to go through the conversation again in her mind to pinpoint what had stung her, it hurt too much. She tried to force it away by thinking of the information she had acquired. She'd learnt some things about shadows... that knowledge might be useful in the future. She had upset Jor somehow, she didn't know why, but it was satisfying anyway. She could tell he was still hiding something, but then again, he always was. As for the book, she didn't know any more about it than she'd known before, but she could bet that Jor had had something to do with its disappearance. He used negative magic and had somehow made shadows use it too. He'd probably had to use the book in order to teach them. She decided to tell Haggaus about her conclusions next time he asked, in exchange for something else. She'd have to think of what, but she'd probably have a day or two to set the price. It would give her something to think about... Just why was her chest still hurting? Why couldn't it stop?! "Maybe if I kill someone with my own hands it will," she thought, but she found that harder to believe than all the other things she'd said to herself before.

*************************

It was a nice morning in the valley. Sunny, yet still cool, reminding everyone that spring was coming soon but not quite yet. For Timper, it was the most beautiful morning he could remember; though he didn't share the yearning of some of his companions to stay there; he wasn't made for sticking to one location for a long time. Besides, he wanted the war to end as soon as possible, which meant the sooner they reached their destination, the better. He agreed to wait until May had tested her improved arrows and Jamie had finished working on the sword, but when Mariel decided to plant her healing flowers he made sure she understood they wouldn't stay to watch them reproduce.
"Why do you want to grow those flowers here anyway?," he asked her. "Isn't the stream good enough for healing?"
"It may be, but we can't take it with us. Not much of it, anyway," she replied. "This seems to be the best place for heyiamar flowers to grow. I wouldn't use magic to make them grow faster, it may destroy their properties, but this valley has natural magic, so it can help them grow without hurting them. By the time spring comes, the whole valley may be covered with blooming flowers, and they'll be able to help not just us, but any travelers who pass by. And they can take a few and plant them in other places... they wouldn't be so rare if more of us did something like this instead of just picking them for personal use."
"That may be so... I don't know how many actually will, but I guess every small action counts. Still, is it worth losing the only two flowers we have? Where we're going, we'll definitely need them."
"I've thought about that... I'm taking some petals, and some water from the stream; that should be enough to make two potent healing potions for an emergency. And for healing light wounds, we can use spells. And I have herbs that can be useful for curing some common diseases. I admit I wouldn't know how to heal every illness anyone in the group might catch, but I've learnt how to deal with a few by healing animals in the forest, and I'm sure the sisters must know even more. I don't think we should worry about that."
"Hm. I guess if something happens to me, I could turn into one of the animals you know how to heal... But it's not the same with everyone, you know. Every race is different, and the same things don't affect us in the same way."
"That's not what I meant... But there are some things that are common... I know more about wounds than illness, but... hypothermia, indigestion..."
"Yes, I guess those are pretty common. But there are many specific ones, and elves are immune to most of them. I'd be surprised if you knew much about them. Anyway, don't worry, you do a good job as a healer, and there's no reason to assume one of us is going to catch something not even your strong potions can deal with. And if it happens, we'll find a way to fix it. If we combine everyone's knowledge, I'm sure we can solve any problems we're likely to encounter. I just wanted to make sure we weren't putting ourselves in danger for the sake of some future visitors who may or may not come."
"I'd never do something that I thought would hurt us. And the future visitors may be us, too. Once this is over, I'd like to return here... see how the flowers have grown, and feel the magic again."
"I guess it must be an amazing feeling..." Timper smiled, trying to imagine. "I don't think you could describe it, could you?"
Mariel thought for a few moments.
"Do you remember the day we met Gallead, when we were at the cave and for a moment we were all connected?"
"Yeah, that was a weird day... It feels almost like a dream when I look back at it."
"Well, it's like that... only that you're connected to the essence of the world itself. You can feel its endless creative power each time you take a breath."
"Wow!... I suppose that would make you want to come back. We do need to get going, though."
"We will, as soon as everyone's... ready?"

Mariel's sentence was cut by the sight of a projectile of sorts, flashing past her in a fast but silent motion. It seemed spherical, but any attempts of looking at it in detail would result in nothing. It was a piece of darkness, cut out of the sights around it. No eyes could focus on it; through it, nothing could be seen. It flew away until it got lost in the distance. Both Mariel and Timper turned to look in the direction it had come from, and saw Jamie walking towards them, holding the wavy sword in one hand and displaying a bright smile. Gallead was walking a few steps behind her.
"What was that?," they both asked with different intonations: Mariels was of curiosity, and Timper's of surprise, emphasizing the last word.
"That, my friends, is what I call a success," Jamie beamed.
"Was it darkness magic?," asked Mariel.
"Yes... inverted light magic. I've managed to alter the sword's spell. Now not only won't it hurt its holder, but it will turn whatever energy is channelled through it into its opposite before releasing it. Now we can use twice as many elements as we could before. If we have trouble with the embreals again, we'll be able to repel them with cold."
"And if Day attacks us, the sword will be able to absorb whatever he throws at us," added Gallead.
"So you've turn it into a... reversion sword?," Timper named it. "But how can you be sure it's safe to use? And as effective as you make it out to be?"
"I guess it's only as effective as the power it channels," Jamie had to admit. "We may have exaggerated a bit about repelling the embreals and fending off all of Day's attacks, but it can be useful. And it doesn't flow back anymore, I've tested it and reinforced it with a protection spell. The hilt is safe to hold, and energy will only flow along the blade one way."
"Can I take a look at it?," Mariel requested.
"Sure," Jamie handed her the sword.

Mariel examined the hilt for a moment, and then the blade. Her eyes shone with an expression of interest.
"Wow!," she exclaimed. "You're right, the negative magic's still there but it serves a completely different purpose now. How did you do it?"
"It wasn't that different from undoing the barrier spell back home. The part of the curse I had to remove had the same signature. I couldn't get rid of the other part, but then I thought I might as well make use of it, so I replaced what I took with a couple of spells of my own."
"This is amazing. I'm still having trouble with protection spells, but you make it seem so easy!"
"I've just had to use a lot of protection spells in my life. My parents taught me when I was little."
A pair of tears escaped Jamie's eyes. She tried to hold them, but they escaped, so Gallead held her instead. She did what she could to get back on topic.
"Anyway, the way you cast light and connection spells is incredible," she told Mariel. "And you're good at healing too! What else can you do?"
"Not that much..." Mariel said. "Some vegetal magic, and a little protection but I need to focus hard just to cast a small protection spell."
"That's one more domain than I can handle. And you're younger than me, too! Just... how do you do it?"
"I don't think I do anything in particular, I've always enjoyed learning, so I practise whenever I can, read as much as I can, and investigate when I have the chance. And I know light is my element, so that's why light magic is easier for me."
"Your element? But I thought elves were non-elemental."
"Oh, we are, but... It's a bit more complicated. Elvins have a natural ability to master one of the elements more easily. It's not the same forall of us, and some may never find it; those who don't practise magic aren't likely to find out what their element is. But those who do normally find it out sooner or later. I discovered mine when I was 11, on the day I met Eric."
"The cave of light..." Gallead remembered. "Yes, he told me about it one night when we were on the watch. He said he saw you surrounded by a bright light, and you seemed to be floating in the air. For a moment he thought he was seeing something out of this world. And the crystals in the cave walls reflected your light and produced sparkles of many colors. Eric said that cave's been his favorite place ever since."
"Wow, that must have been beautiful!," Jamie commented, her eyes finally dry.
"I'm sure it was. And I just happen to know the auditive counterpart of that cave. It's within one of the mountains that surround the Valley of Winds."
"Really? What is it like?"
"I could try to describe it, but it would still leave a lot to imagination. You have to be there to experience its true beauty. I'd like to show you someday."
Jamie looked at him and smiled.
"I'd love it," she said. "Do you think your people would accept my presence?"
He thought for a moment.
"Let them try to come up with a reason why you shouldn't be there," he decided. "In any case, as soon as they get to know you, they will love you. It's impossible not to."

That sentence earned him a kiss. Mariel blushed slightly as she watched them, and looked for something else to occupy herself with. After a few seconds, the two pairs of lips parted and became the outlines of two wide smiles, as their owners' gazes locked into each other. More seconds passed, no one caring to count them, until Jamie felt ready to resume the conversation.
"Maybe I should try to learn some wind magic," she said. "Then I won't be so out of place if I visit your valley."
Gallead thought for a moment.
"That might help," he finally decided. "It would at least show your interest. And you and I would have one more thing to share. There are some exciting things we could do together."
"You'll have to tell me about them. I like feeling the wind on my face, but I've never thought you could do anything exciting with it."
"If you trust me, I could show you a thing or two."
"You don't have to ask," Jamie grinned.

Eric had just finished packing when he heard steps behind him. He turned round to see Mariel approaching him. She looked at him and smile.
"How are you doing?," she asked him.
"I'm as good as new... but with more experience," he replied. "It's like a miracle. You're a miracle."
"The magic in this place helped you a lot. Elsewhere, it would have taken two or three days for your wounds to heal completely, even with my magic. You'll have to be more careful from now on."
"I'll watch out for burning tails and magical weapons, but we're walking straight into the dragon's mouth. It's not going to be safe for any of us."
Mariel knelt down next to Eric.
"I know... I wish it could be different."
"But... that's what this is all about, isn't it?," Eric pointed out. "We're fighting so that, in the future, it can be different."
"Change the world, right?," Mariel chuckled.
"We promised it. We'll have to find a way to do it. First we figure out what the real reason of the attacks is, then we put an end to them, and then we go back home and show everyone what we can do together. We can stop again here on our way back."
Mariel couldn't help but smile. He made it sound so easy that she doubted even he believed it. She herself had thought that way at the start of the journey, when her dress getting stuck on the bushes had seemed to be her biggest problem. Now she knew things were much harder than that. But she still wanted to believe they would make it... and then go back home together... and stay together after that. She needed a dream to pursue, and she needed to believe they could make it real, just like her song said. Changing the world was hard, but she was determined not to let the world change her instead. And maybe there was a way. It was worth trying... it was better than the alternative.

Just when she had reached that conclusion, a loud and vibrant laughter caused her to turn and look... up! All she could see was a white dress, the lower part of two legs and a mess of black hair. She couldn't help her curiosity, and checked further.
"That's a bit risky," she judged. "It's taking him a lot of concentration to keep her up there."
"Him?," Eric queried, a split-second before the answer came to him. "Gallead?!"
Mariel nodded.
"Why is he doing that?"
"To take her mind off her problems, I guess. And it's working, at least for now. I didn't want to intrude, but... with something as notorious as this, it's hard not to."
Everyone else was now looking at the airborne couple.
"I would have thought Gallead of all people would know how to lay low," Pura commented, finding a seat in Eric's shoulder. "We'll be lucky if our enemies haven't seen them."
"What would they think they're seeing, from that distance?," Mariel wondered, and then thought better. "Even if they know... we'll be leaving soon. Let them know they haven't got to us. Let them know we're alive and well, and we're enjoying ourselves."

ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸, ø¤º°`°º¤ø ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ø

Chapter 30 previews:

Mariel toyed with the idea. "That would cause a lot of arguments, I'm sure."
"Unlike the ones they keep having now?"

Gallead was about to say something in order to take her away from those gloomy thoughts, but he stopped himself when he saw a smile form in her lips.

"This conversation has taken a fast turn to the creepy side," said Timper, who had been listening in silence.

"At least you still have each other," Ralph sighed, joining the conversation. "I'm not sure if I have anyone anymore."

"You know what? I think we should have a celebration right now," Timper suggested.
"What?! Have you gone nuts?," Erin questioned him. She had come to admit that she loved him, but he sometimes did completely unexpected things that left her puzzled, to say the least.

"It looks like an owl," she said. "But last time something like that happened it turned out to be you."

"Oh, I'm... unusual," he said.

Chapter 30 maybe rather uneventful, but nevertheless... Unusual.

[Lune the Guardian]

Sorry it took so long to respond to this, but I haven't logged in to TPM for over a year.

Let's see here...

Interesting to see how the sword ended up. I wonder if it still has a chance of backfiring.

As for Miranda, she brings a new surprise every time she shows up. I wonder and wonder about her, and I hope I will get to know her by the end. Though she really is a mysterious one the way she hides her feelings. How sad that she thinks that love is useless! But the few thoughts that she betrayed may mean that she can turn around in the end and see the truth. It would be fortunate for her to find that out sooner, rather than later... but sadly, I would guess that she'd find out later, or not at all.

[Lady Vulpix]

Ah, Miranda... She will play an important role in the upcomming events, no pun intended. I'm glad she's had that effect in you. And yes, at this point anything could happen. I hope I get to write the ending of the story so that you can see what will happen, and that it doesn't disappoint you once it's written.

Thanks for coming back!

[Lady Vulpix]

Chapter 30: Unusual

The plains seemed deserted. Aside from the abandoned embreal nests, there was no sign of their previous inhabitants. This made everyone uncomfortable, although they all agreed that meeting the embreals again would have been worse. The weather became increasingly colder, and the two young faerflies had to resort to travelling inside Ralph's pocket during the coldest hours. Erin felt as cold as they did, but she managed to put up with it with the help of her coat and Timper's closeness. She never said a word to complain.

When two days had passed since their departure from Infinity Valley, the lack of encounters was already making the group concerned. They were too close to their enemies to be left alone, so they concluded that they were either heading the wrong way or walking straight into a trap. And, as Mariel insisted that the source of the vibrations hadn't moved, the latter was more likely. But they couldn't think of a way of finding out what the trap consisted of, so all they could do was stay as alert as they possibly could. These were the circumstances under which the twins celebrated their birthday. It all started with a simple "Happy Birthday" from Jamie to Mildred.

"It's our birthday already?!," Mildred reacted.
She stopped to think of how long they had been travelling.
"Well... Happy Birthday to you too," she finally answered. "I wish it could be happier."
"I know. Me too," Jamie nodded sadly.
"What?... We can't let you girls spend your birthday in this mood," Ralph decided. "We need to do something to lift it. We have to celebrate. How old are you turning?"
"Sixteen," Mildred replied, smiling at Ralph's intentions without much trust in their success.
"Do humans do something special on their birthdays?," inquired Gallead.
"Normally yes," Jamie replied. "We don't always do the same things, but there's usually some kind of celebration. Like a big meal or a visit to a nice place... But I don't think we could do either right now. Besides..."
"Don't think of the besides," Gallead stopped her, anticipating her thoughts and intent on keeping her away from them. "You're not missing a chance to celebrate, who knows how many we will get?"
"What do ferwills do on their birthdays?," Jamie queried.
"Not much normally," he answered. "Mostly we just remind ourselves to change the answer when someone asks us our age. Sometimes we make resolutions, or wishes. But not everyone does."
"Resolutions? As in New Year?," Jamie asked him.
"You make resolutions in New Year?... I guess it must be the same. So all humans make them at the same time?"
"Most of us do," she replied.
"Interesting... I think it's more personal to make them on your birthday. That's when a new cycle begins for you. And no one knows exactly when the world was born... or created, so the marking of New Year's Day is an arbitrary one. But on the other hand, it's as good a day as any for everyone to agree on something. It must create quite an effect... so many people deciding to improve themselves together."
"I think it must..." Jamie smiled. "In the big cities, at least. Especially if they manage to hold on to their resolutions for more than a few days. I must admit I haven't always managed it."
"Neither have I, but it's good to try, isn't it?"
"Do elves celebrate their birthdays?," Mildred asked, curious about how a race with an unlimited lifespan handled the passing of the years.
"Children do," Eric replied. "But not adults. I don't know what day my parents were born."
"Most of us count our years until we reach 144," Mariel specified. "That's when an elvin is fully accepted as a member of the community, but many stop celebrating long before that. There are exceptions of course, I have a friend who will turn 300 soon and is still counting her years. I don't know if it's the same for merials."
"Yes, it is," Eric confirmed.
"144 years?!," exclaimed Jamie. "Humans don't even live that long!"
"It's a long time, I know," Mariel agreed. "We can survive by ourselves long before that, but the adults don't think we have enough experience to make important decisions until we reach that age. It's frustrating."
"I'm sure you'll be able to change that when you become a member of the Council," Eric supported her.
"A Council member?..." Mariel toyed with the idea. "That would cause a lot of arguments, I'm sure."
"Unlike the ones they keep having now?"

Eric's comment made Mariel laugh, but Jamie's exclamation had left Gallead thinking.
"How long do humans live?," he asked.
"It depends..." Jamie answered. "I've heard of some who lived over 100 years, while many don't live past 50. If there are no plagues or famine or anything like that... I think around 75 years."
"That's... not very long," Gallead couldn't stop himself.
"Why? How long do ferwills live?"
"Between 150 and 200 years, normally. And that's not long compared to the lifespans of most faeries, let alone elves."
"Oh... I guess you'll be around long after I'm gone, then."
"Let's not think about that now. For all we know we could all die tomorrow, but right now we're alive. We mustn't miss the present out of fear of an uncertain future."
"You're right... We're at war. We'll be lucky if we live to see next summer. But..."
Gallead was about to say something in order to take her away from those gloomy thoughts, but he stopped himself when he saw a smile form in her lips.
"But what?," he asked.
"This is silly. Mildred always makes jokes about me being so attached to this world that I won't be able to leave it even after I die. So maybe we'll still be together."
"Mildred says that? Why?!"
"It's a joke," Mildred explained. "I just say that because she's such a light sleeper. Any change in the environment wakes her up. But if you want to become a ghost suit yourself, Jamie. I can wait for you in Heaven until you're ready. Then maybe we can come back together for our next life."
"This conversation has taken a fast turn to the creepy side," said Timper, who had been listening in silence.
"I think it's interesting," Mariel said. "I didn't know humans gave so much thought to what happens after death. I guess it makes sense. But I've never heard of this Heaven... nor about coming back to life."
"It's called reincarnation," Mildred explained. "Being born again and having a different life."
"But then wouldn't there be many who have lived other lives before?," asked Mariel. "We would have heard about them."
"No, because they don't remember their previous lives."
"But if they live different lives and don't remember the previous ones, how can they still be themselves? What's the difference between being reborn that way and a different person being born?"
"The soul is the same. It's... complicated."
"Humans are more complicated than I imagined."
"But elves can die too," Mildred pointed out. "Not nearly as soon as humans do, but eventually. Don't you ever think of what happens afterwards?"
"I haven't given it much thought," Mariel admitted. "I've often thought that life is a miracle, and something like that can't just fade out of existence. There must be something afterwards. But that's all. It would be impossible to tell what that something is."
"We can't be certain, that much is true," Jamie agreed. "I've felt the presence of spirits in the past, but they didn't speak with words and they had no appearance, so calling them ghosts would be stretching it. I just..."
"Just what?," asked Eric.
"I just wish I could see my parents again," she finally said, and the confession released the tears she'd been holding since the conversation had begun. "I hope they're fine... I hope they're happy and... I know this is selfish, but I hope they remember us."
"I'm sure they do," Gallead was quick to respond, his arms embracing her gently as he spoke. "It would be impossible to forget someone like you. I'm sure they're thinking of you, and they'll help us if they can. They... they must be wishing for your happiness, and Mildred's. Just as I am."
"At least you still have each other," Ralph sighed, joining the conversation. "I'm not sure if I have anyone anymore."
"You have us!," chirped May. "We all have each other. I know I haven't been with you for a very long time, but I like this group... And..."
May's improvised speech was cut short due to lack of words, which made her face turn red with embarrassment, nearly matching her hair.
"Thank you," Ralph said to her. "I guess it's hard for all of us."
"Speaking of birthdays," Eric picked up the old subject, "mine must have been about two weeks ago. I can't believe I missed it!"
"We all had other things on our minds," Erin justified the omission. "We weren't in the mood to celebrate. I've never done anything special for my birthday. I can't say I even know what day I was born."
"You mean all those times you refused to tell me how old you were..." Eric reflected, "you didn't know?"
"Oh, I was told I was 5 years old the first time I asked, and I count the years to myself when the first leaves start to fall, for no other reason than the fact they were falling on that day. But I don't know the date of my birth, and I can't be sure they got it right and I wasn't 4 or 6... I was just another orphan after all."
"You know what? I think we should have a celebration right now," Timper suggested.
"What?! Have you gone nuts?," Erin questioned him. She had come to admit that she loved him, but he sometimes did completely unexpected things that left her puzzled, to say the least.
"On the contrary," he assured. "It's plain obvious that our morale is sinking underground. We can't afford that. And it's been quiet for a while, so it would be too much of a coincidence for us to be attacked right now. We'll stay on the watch, of course, but having some fun will do us good. And besides, we have two birthdays to celebrate, and Eric's belated birthday, and all of yours if you'd like to join us. And I must say I missed a lot of them myself, having been alone most of the time. Ladies?," he turned to the sisters.
"I guess... it wouldn't hurt," Mildred agreed. "We can try that."
"We'll scout the perimeter to make sure we're not caught off-guard," Pura offered.
Erin shrugged. "Alright, let's do it your way. Show us what you've got."

What Timper had got turned out to be a load of stories of celebrations he had witnessed. They didn't have the means to reproduce most of them, but listening to the stories helped brighten up the mood, and soon everyone was sharing their own experiences. Mariel and Gallead improvised a 'tea party', using some of their herbs to prepare a variety of infusions, and Jamie gave Mariel and idea that they both soon set in motion: combining their light and connection magic, they changed the scenery to resemble a lush forest, with colorful lights sparkling on the leaves of the trees. Ralph, Jim and May were delighted, as they'd never seen that kind of magic before. But Timper pointed out that they were going too far, making themselves too noticeable and wasting energy they were likely to need quite soon. Erin was relieved she didn't have to be the one to give the common sense lecture this time. So the light show concluded, but the laughs and light talk didn't. They hadn't had much of that lately, and they welcomed the much needed release.

The sunset found the group sharing a meal around a fire. The older ones were still wary, but no threats had revealed themselves. Pura and Galmand left the watch to Erin and Timper when most of the group went to sleep, having decided it would be best to resume the trek early in the morning. The lurians hadn't seen or sensed anything unusual, but since that was unusual in itself, their successors decided to take no chances and have a careful look around. While they were at it, they heard a whisper-like sound coming from a nearby tree, and Erin flew up slowly to check the source. She descended after a few seconds, and spoke in whispers to Timper.

"It looks like an owl," she said. "But last time something like that happened it turned out to be you."
"Let me check," he replied.
He turned into an owl himself and approached the tree, but the bird flew away as soon as he got close. Timper's eyes followed it until it got lost into the nocturnal sky.
"I think that one was an owl," he diagnosed. "Probably looking for food. My unusual attitude scared it."
"Yes, you do have that effect on others," Erin joked.
"You're mean," he chuckled. "Wait."
"What is it?"
"That thick tree over there... it has a strange shadow."
"You can see the shapes of shadows in this darkness?"
"While I'm an owl I can. Let me take a closer look."
"I'm going with you."

They flew together towards the suspicious tree, and heard the sound of something climbing up quickly, and a few leaves shaking.
"A squirrel, maybe?," Erin suggested.
"It sounded too heavy for a squirrel. And the shadow was too big."
"So we're dealing with something fast and agile... but not too smart. It's got itself trapped on the top of the tree. There's nowhere left to run."
As if to prove her wrong, a big and rather light-colored figure leaped from one treetop to the other, too fast for any features to become distinct.
"It's fast," Erin noted. "But not as fast as a lurian."
"Got it," Timper nodded, shifting into what soon looked like a small, bright green light. He flew up to the treetop and spoke up.
"We know you're there. There's no use in making us chase you. Who are you and why are you spying on us?"
"What makes you think I was spying on you?," said a male voice that slightly resembled the sound of cracking dry leaves.
"Hmm, let me see... Hiding close to us and trying to run away when we got too close would be a big hint, I think."
"I was just standing there and you came after me," replied the voice.

Timper managed to get close enough to see what looked like a long, thin arm and a knee just as thin. They looked ochre under the green light. Timper guessed they were probably light brown. The shape and agility matched those of a kind of creature he'd seen before: a tacker; but this one was faster than most. On the other hand, either he was a great actor or his intelligence was well below average. Timper decided to play along.
"What were you doing here all by yourself?," he asked.
"Exploring," replied the tacker.
"This isn't a safe place right now, you know?"
"Why? What's going on?"
"Ok, that's it. There's no possible way you could have made it here and not know what's going on. Now tell the truth. Who are you and what do you want?"
"Easy. I'm not here to fight. Just me against the two of you and your friends down there? It wouldn't be fair. I like a challenge, but not with these odds."
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I've told you, I'm exploring. Gathering knowledge, as the lady said."
"What lady?"
"One that wouldn't give me her name but seemed to know a lot about what's going on. More than you do, I believe. She was... very strange. But she knew things."
"What kind of things?"
"Things... she wouldn't say."
Timper sighed. The effort seemed useless.
"So you came here on behalf of a strange lady whose name you don't know because she knows things which you don't know either?"
"Basically, yes."
"Don't give me that crap, no one can be so stupid."
"Maybe I should try to talk to him," Erin suggested, standing on a branch next to Timper.
"Go ahead," Timper stepped back.

Erin looked for an open space and drew out her sword. She held it calmly, not aiming it at the tacker but showing confidence.
"That's a big sword for someone your size," the tacker commented.
"That's what they say," she replied. "I think it's just the right size. And weight, thickness and hardness. And the edge is good too, I make sure to keep it sharp. But enough about me, what's your name?"
"Jaak."
"Ok, Jaak. I believe that you don't want to fight, if only because you're outnumbered and overpowered and haven't made a move yet. But what is it you do want? And how could you avoid being detected by magic?"
"Oh, I'm... unusual," he said. "I was always the best at hiding, and the best at running. Now I'm out to prove I'm also the best at watching."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but you haven't done any of those things well tonight."
"Your friend cheated," he complained. "He wouldn't have seen me if he hadn't turned into an owl."
"This is not a game," said Erin. "If you think it is, you'd better get away from here before you find out the hard way."
"I will," he assured. "I'm going to leave right now. See you next time our roads cross, or something."
He leapt off the tree and ran into the darkness.

Erin looked at Timper, who had watched the tacker leave without making a move.
"He's going north," Timper remarked.
"Right into the wolf's mouth, as they would say. Do you believe anything he said?"
"Not a word."
"Me neither. Then why didn't you follow him?"
"What would I have done? Questioning him was proving useless, and I'm not going to attack first. Nor fly into a trap if that's what he wanted. I doubt we've seen the last of him anyway. What I'm worried about is... how much has he seen of us? He was right about one thing: if I hadn't turned into an owl, I wouldn't have noticed him. Magic didn't detect him, and tackers make hardly any sound when they move stealthily. He could have been watching us for days."
"Then we'll have to assume he has... and be more careful from now on."
"I wonder who the 'lady' was... if she exists at all."
"Either the embreal, or someone we haven't met, I think."
"Because Miranda would never refuse to give her name," Timper agreed.
It was the first time in a while he brought up the subject of the female shifter, and Erin was surprised at how casually he did it.
"Of course," she said after a few seconds. "She's a glory whore, isn't she? Not many would shout out their names while levelling a village."
"I would have said 'glory hog', but yes, she did have a thing about making sure everyone remembered her name. Which is kind of odd considering everything else about her seemed to be a lie."
"Do you still feel sorry for her?"
"Of course I do. She seemed more desperate than evil. She made a big mess, but she hasn't killed anyone as far as I know. I'm not sure she even knows what she wants. I'd feel sorry for anyone in that situation."
"Do you feel sorry for me too?"
The question caught him off-guard. He had to think before answering.
"I feel so many things for you... I guess I did feel sorry a few times, when I thought about how much you've suffered in the past, or when you closed yourself down and I couldn't reach out to you. But those were just brief moments. Most of the time I feel rather... impressed."
"Impressed?"
"Impressed by your strength. Your inner strength, I mean. All faerfliyes are physically strong, but not many have the will to keep going after everything you've been through and stay clean at the same time. Not many have the will to overcome their own fears and weaknesses. I've seen you dive into the water and face extreme cold, just like I see you get up every morning and lead the way into something worse than the unknown, because you know Wilson is waiting for you and that takes a lot of courage. So yes, I'm impressed."
Erin let out a small chuckle. "I thought you were going to repeat some of your old compliments, but you've managed to come up with new ones. How do words come to you so easily?"
"It's a skill," Timper smile. "You know I'm good at nearly everything."
Erin shook her head and smiled. "I'm worried sick and you still make me laugh. I don't know how you manage. Let's wake up Eric and Mariel, it's their turn to watch. We'll tell them about Jaak and let them think while we sleep or at least try to. Who knows?, they may even come up with something."
"And if they don't, we'll think of something in the morning," Timper agreed.

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And the usual previews...

It would soon be time to reveal the last player.

"Don't compare me with her," the pale woman said.

"Will we be twelve already?"

"We know that! But what do you propose we do?"
"Learn to defend yourselves. You're as smart as any other sentient race, it's not beyond your capabilities."

"Oh, come on! It can't have been that bad!," Timper defended himself.
"It's not that. It's just..." Mariel began but didn't know how to finish.
"We didn't expect it," Eric told him.

"Don't get mad at me, I was just trying to help," Pura said. "But you may have a point, we've been putting too much pressure on you. We'll try to make this decision by ourselves."

Chapter 31 will be a bit shorter, and its title will be... Preparations.

[Crystal Tears]

Okay well, I hope this is acceptable. I’ve only read up to, I believe chapter five. From that, I can tell you I enjoy this story very much, and though being a *bit* behind, I plan on catching up.

I can tell you right now my favourite character is Mariel. She loves magic and studies/trains it whenever she can. I could relate to that, I much rather wield magic than any sort of weapon. While a sword no doubt can do some damage, magic can easily control how a battle turns out. I’m surprised her parents don’t see more in her, she embraces her magic studies so much and obviously excels at it; they should give her the respect she deserves. Respect she only seems to get from her teacher and Eric. She does receive respect from Jasmine, but that’s a bit different, seeing as Jasmine is little, and children respect and look up to those who are older (usually anyway).

Eric is okay, I don’t know. He seems a bit too innocent. I find the idea of him forging his own sword quite cool, but there’s something about him that nags at me. I suppose I wished he knew some magic of his own, seeing as it comes in handy.

I hope this is a good reply ^_^’’ I’ll reply once again when I read more.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks for replying! Well, Eric is very innocent partly because (at that point) he's had no experiences that could change that and partly because of his personality: he always expects things to turn out well either by themselves or with his help. As the story develops, he faces some situations that threaten to change his view of the world, but since he doesn't want to change it and he can be really stubborn... Well, it can go either way, right? As for magic, he'll get to do some, but not a lot.

I'm glad you liked Mariel. I was afraid to admit it for the first few years, but ever since I started writing this I felt she was, among all the characters of all my written and unwritten stories, the closest I had ever come to a Mary Sue (even if her poetry-writing skills are even worse than mine and that's a lot to say). So I had to work hard in trying to make her realistic. I'm glad it seems to have worked.

[Crystal Tears]

Well, I hope Eric gets some major experience soon, I love happy-go-lucky characters but he might drive me insane with his childish innocence. And yay! He gets magic!

Chapter Six

Erin is a pretty cool character by my standards. I like her attitude towards what happened and how to deal with it. I relate to her in that sense, I would want to get revenge and/or find out who/what cast the black fire on the crops.

You’re description of Mariel when Eric sees her with the light inside her was absolutely gorgeous. I had a very clear mental image of Mariel and what Eric was seeing at that moment. Truly great description ^_^

Chapter Seven

Erin feeling secretly close to Eric was cute, and amusing in some odd way to me. She acts so tough and mighty and yet she has a soft spot for the most innocent warrior alive. I hope she eventually tells him.

I found how you should the difference between families (Eric’s and Mariel’s) really great. While Eric’s family has little objection to him leaving, Mariel’s refuse. I almost seems like they want to be blissfully unaware of the truth. Their daughter, friends, and home are in very blatant danger.

Pura is the most adorable character I’ve seen in a while. Her upbeat and happy attitude is great.

Erin should lighten up. Being negative on any journey can drown your hopes. She should relish in the fact she’s surrounded by happy and nice people.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks a lot for your detailed comments, both here and on IM.

I wish I had more time to reply. Let's see...

I'm glad you've found the differences between both families clear, I wanted to make them so.

I know I could have done a better work with Eric. Paid more attention to him, I mean. This was my first and probably last attempt at writing a story with so many main characters, and it's very hard to stop many of them from fading to the background. I could have written more about Eric. As a character, he progresses slowly. But keep in mind that he's still very young (and he's an elf, so to most other elves he's still just a little boy, even if he's a fast learner). He's never been treated as an adult, so it's not natural for him to behave like one.

I'm glad you like Pura. She won't be so lucky to be always upbeat and happy, but she'll always push forward, or at least try to. And she'll have good moments too.

As for Erin, she's probably the most complex character in this story. She gets to evolve a lot, especially once a certain character takes a special interest in her and makes it his personal mission to get her to open up and give life -and herself- another chance. But that's in the future for you.

Thanks again.

[Crystal Tears]

Don’t worry about letting your characters fall in behind, I’ve done that a couple of times. It’s hard because you just love the other character so much that some get left behind. But eventually you notice what you did and ‘oops!’. Then that character is suddenly back in the story.

Chapter 8

Very interesting. I liked the group’s argument and how Erin stormed off. Pura’s adorable in her manner, especially how she seems to be able to cheer up anybody. Mirna was a pretty cool character, though I find she’s a bit to trusting, even if Mariel can inspire people to trust her. I’d be a bit reluctant to trust a guy with a sword coming towards me.

I never stated this before, but your names for the creatures are pretty neat, though a bit hard to spell. Like ‘Heerynauts’. O.o’’

Chapter Nine

I really enjoy Erin’s responses to questions, especially when it comes to her age. Some of my friends can be that way so I know how annoying answers like that can be. =.=. Though it’s funny seeing it being used on someone else.

I liked this chapter, lots of action and fighting (which you ARE good at writing btw). ^_^ I enjoyed it, and thought you wrote it pretty well so… Keep it up!

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks! They're hard! Really hard to write.

The subject of Erin's age was brought up again on chapter 30, which is the last chapter I've posted so far.

Mirna is a bit too trusting. She's never been far away from home and her city hasn't known much trouble in a long time, which is why they didn't know what to do when they were attacked. Mirna's first instinct was to search for help and take whatever she could find. If she were to become an adventurer, she'd have a lot to learn.

[Lune the Guardian]

Yay, great two chapters!

More glimpses into Miranda's past... I'm beginning to make guesses about it now, but I'd definitely like to see more. You've given me a picture of what kind of person Miranda is from all her actions and thoughts so far. As I've said before, I'm pretty interested in this character. I especially want to see how she does when the enemies clash.

I really like how you can make such meaningful, engaging dialogue. That's something I've never been very good at. It's amazing how you can come up with dialogue that is actually entertaining to read, including the more serious dialogue with deeper concepts. You're also a master at providing encouragement even though the atmosphere is quite dark. I really enjoyed the birthday celebration... it was very uplifting.

As for the previews, wow!! I can't wait to see who the 12th is.

I'm also wondering who that guy was that Erin and Timper failed to catch. He's probably going to be trouble in the future.

Really sorry for not posting earlier - I read all of this, but I completely forgot to post. I think I finished right as I was going out or something, and it slipped my mind as I rarely visit TPM =/ Definitely a pleasure to read again though.

Thanks for the awesome chapters, Gabi!

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks for coming back, Karin! And I'm glad you liked them.

I hope you can return soon and see this post. Now you get to see who the twelveth is.

Chapter 31: Preparations

Jor sat idly against a tree, thinking. Three of the savalls had been chosen, although they had never faced the ones he saw as the real opponents. They were being briefed now, along with the embreals Iwa and Owal. And he had hopes for Feshara's new find. He was a tricky one, easy to underestimate until it was too late. Of course Jor would never allow himself to underestimate anyone; Haggaus did on a regular basis and that was making him lose credit among the group. The math wasn't hard to do: three savalls and two embreals, plus the new recruit if he made it, Haggaus, Wilson, Miranda, Day and Jor himself... everyone would count eleven. Everyone except for him. It would soon be time to reveal the last player.

As if on cue, a white figure came out of the woods. "Too white," Jor thought. He rose to greet her.
"Good morning, Feshara. I'm afraid Miranda's pulled that one before."
A pair of red eyes flickered with a range of emotions within a fraction of a second.
"Don't compare me with her," the pale woman said. "I'm not 'pulling' anything. It's hard to get something good out of that pile of trash. It's disgusting. And how do you know my name?"
"Oh, I know your name, I know Heshar's name and I know Hyra's name too. It always pays to know things."
He smiled when he saw Feshara's lips press hard against each other.
"You've been to my home town," she inferred. "It's the only place where you could have found out. So they still remember us, do they."
"You left quite an impression," Jor informed her. "Your old people are mostly passive, but news flies among them like the wind. I'm surprised you didn't take revenge on the whole town. After all, they knew what your father was doing for years and no one ever lifted a finger to help you and your siblings."
"Why would they have? It was not their problem," she replied emotionlessly. "The most you can get out of helping the weak is trouble. The strong survive by themselves. Hyra and my mother were too weak."
"And you are exceptionally strong."
"I am. But I won't grow too confident. I'm done with the book, though. I'll see if I can return it without anyone noticing. It was a good idea."
"Thanks. And that's good to hear. Now, about your new guy...?"
"I'm waiting for him to report back. He's quite unpredictable, but he's passed the first part of the test and ruined a good husk in the process."
"I saw that. You weren't giving it your best."
"Of course I wasn't. It was a test, not a real fight. I had to find out if he had it in him, now I know he does. If he can tell us what we need to know, you can take him to Haggaus."
"And if he's accepted, you can come out."
"Will we be twelve already?"
Jor nodded. Feshara looked at the sky.
"It's not as easy to tell now," she said, "But I think it's coming soon, isn't it?"
"It is," Jor confirmed. "Only two more days."

*************************

Out in the forest it was still cold, and clearings became more and more common, making natural shelter a rare commodity. Nothing had happen since Jaak's 'visit'. Everyone in the group was surprised to find no attackers, but also noticed the absence of any other sentient life forms. The place was deserted. They'd already been quite nervous for a while, and wondering now and again whether they were on the right path, but the question really began to worry them when Mariel herself started to have doubts.

"How can you not be sure?" complained Jim. "We've been following you all along! We're almost freezing to death because we trusted you."
"Leave her alone, Jim!" Eric yelled at him. "She's doing all she can. I'm sure there's a reason for this and she will find the way soon. Right, Mariel?"
"Err... I hope so."
"What's the problem? Is it something magical?" Eric asked, worried.
"I don't know. I'm still feeling that call... that energy we've been following. But now it seems to come from two different directions. One is straight to the north and the other is to the northeast."
"Let me see if I can help," offered Jamie. She sat down and concentrated. "Yes... I feel them. They're quite similar, but..."
"But what?" queried Jim, only to be hushed immediately by Eric.
"The one on the northeast is restless. It feels like the place Mid and I came through. Come to think of it it may be that place, we've been heading another way but not so far from the path we took then." She sighed and continued. "That was an awful place, but not what we're looking for, I'm sure. The other one seems more focused."
"What was that place like?" asked Ralph. "If you don't mind me asking."
"It was like a tunnel..." Jamie began, but had trouble finding the words.
"A long, dark tunnel," her sister assisted her. "But that's saying nothing. What was really bad there was what we couldn't see. There were all these forces... more than we could count. They were gathered all around us and kept lashing at us as if they wanted to take something from us... At least that's the feeling they gave me."
"They felt like they were alive, but not completely," Jamie continued, having cleared her thoughts. "They were missing something. I think they acted on instinct. And I think I felt them fight each other as well, but when I tried to make sure they... somehow slapped me on my chest. It hurt. Then I started chanting to protect us."
"We both did," Mildred clarified. "We had to chant all the way to the end of the tunnel just to keep them at bay, making sure not to stop for breath at the same time. When we finally got out it was ice-cold, but it felt like Heaven for a while. We took a long rest once we made sure those things couldn't follow us."
"As long as we could, anyway," corrected Jamie. "We couldn't fall asleep or else we would risk freezing. But in any case we were glad to be out of that place."
"It's hard to believe how brave you two were!" Ralph praised them, still struggling to grasp the whole thing. "It was bad enough to fight zombies, or whatever those things were. I don't know what I'd do if I were attacked by things I couldn't see."
"I'm not sure," Jamie said, "but they might be the same thing. Those zombies... the shadows, right?" she turned to Erin, who nodded, "they also felt like they were missing something to be completely alive. And they didn't seem to think, all they could do was fight."
"Yes, I think what you found may have been shadows," Mariel agreed. "My last teacher told me they don't have bodies of their own and they need to steal bodies to interact with the world. I've read what I could find about them. It wasn't much, but it said that most of them follow instructions or act on instinct. There were a few reports of shadows that could speak, but even those spoke mostly to express emotions, and only short phrases. I've always wondered why. I mean, if they can speak it means they do have a mind... but it's like their minds are incomplete. If they weren't so dangerous I'd like to try to understand them."
"That's a big if," Erin remarked. "As it is, you must remember it's best to avoid them. I've seen them rip a soul out of its body. It's not a nice sight."
"I know what you mean," Pura agreed. "Too well."
Erin looked at Pura thoughtfully. The lurian was currently about the same size as her, and the light around her was still indigo.
"Yes, I suppose you would," she finally said. "Do you think it's safe for you to go around like that?"
"It's easier," Pura replied. "And I doubt it'll change anything by now. They have Galmand's body, it won't take them long to figure out what he is, if they haven't yet."
"Why is it easier to stay that size?" Eric couldn't help his curiosity.
"It's my normal size," explained Pura. "We lurians can change our size easily and it doesn't take much concentration to remain shrunken for days or even weeks, but being like this is more comfortable, and with two souls in one body..."
"...And one of them an outcast..." added Erin.
"...It gets complicated," Pura finished the sentence.
"An outcast?" asked Eric.
"A lurian who broke away from the fold," Pura clarified. "A few choose to go away and live by themselves or with other folks. They're allowed to remain at their normal size in public as long as they don't let anyone know they're lurians."
"Your rules are so complicated!"
"Not really... if you know their background and their purpose. Most of our rules were set out of need. We're fast, but not particularly strong or resilient, and we've never specialized in making weapons or building fortresses. There are few warriors among us, so few I've never got to meet one. Our best defense is to avoid being attacked."
"Still, if I may say so, that's a very fragile defense," Erin voiced her thoughts. "Any one of you could easily break it. You have the rules, but how long can they last until someone breaks them with fatal results? I fell right into Isthum eight... almost nine years ago and no one could stop me from seeing what I shouldn't have. You were all lucky I don't like putting innocent lives in danger, but what if it had been someone else? And you yourself were almost slipping every time you spoke since the day we left, and have now revealed your secret to everyone here. I'm fairly confident they're all trustworthy, but another lurian could make a wrong judgement or even be seen changing sizes when they think no one's looking. You're risking yourselves too much."
"We know that! But what do you propose we do?"
"Learn to defend yourselves. You're as smart as any other sentient race, it's not beyond your capabilities."
"We're trying. It's hard to change ways that have been established thousands of years ago, but we do what we can. The warrior school was built for that purpose. The warriors we've trained would come to our aid if someone attacked us, and we've had to learn at least the theory in order to teach it."
"The theory..." Erin chuckled.
"Well, it's a start! And more lurians have become outcasts in the last few decades and are learning all kinds of things from other races. Few of them ever come back, but we learn new things whenever we get to hear from them. Oh... Galmand says if we get out of this, he'll stay in Urthum for awhile and teach everything he knows to anyone who's interested."
"I really hope we do get out of this," Erin said gloomily. "No... we will. We'll have to figure out how, but we will make it. We can't let ourselves fail, there's too much at stake. And there's something I must do once this is all over."
"What is it?" asked Eric.
"See the world," she smiled looking at Timper, whose heart skipped a beat. Then he grinned.
"May I...?" he began, but Erin laughed and nodded before he could even think of how to finish the question.

He ran the few steps between him and the faerie, and wrapped his arms around her waist, taking just a second to find room below her wings. He held her tightly, stared in amazement at the glow in her eyes and, without allowing it the time to flicker, planted a kiss on her mouth. He was forced to break apart when she began to laugh.
"I think we'll have to work on that," she told him.
"Sorry, I was afraid you'd change your mind," he apologized.

The two looked around. Everyone else was staring blankly at them. A few mouths were open.
"Oh, come on! It can't have been that bad!" Timper defended himself.
"It's not that. It's just..." Mariel began but didn't know how to finish.
"We didn't expect it," Eric told him. "You two never seemed to... you know..."
"I think the problem is we've only allowed ourselves such freedom when we were alone up to now," Erin reckoned. "Well, get over it, all of you. It's a normal thing for grown-ups to do."
"We're not children, you know," Ralph protested.
"Let her be," Pura tried to contain her own laughter. "This is a new experience for her and she's used to being so certain about everything. We must cut her some slack."
"That's it, if you're all so wise, why don't you decide what to do next?" Erin challenged the group. A thin halo of steam was visible around her.
"Don't get mad at me, I was just trying to help," Pura said. "But you may have a point, we've been putting too much pressure on you. We'll try to make this decision by ourselves."
"Not that you follow my advice half the time," Erin murmured.
"Ok, we need to focus," Eric decided. "We can't have a fight now. We're all edgy but fighting each other won't help us. Unless it's a training session, I think we could use one."
"I agree," said Gallead, who had been quiet until now. "But where are we going after that?"
"I think north is the obvious choice," said Eric. "If what's to the northeast is a shadows' nest, it can't be the place we're looking for. It has to be the other place. And we should make a plan for when we get there."
"But how?" asked May, worried. "We don't even know what's in there!"
"We'll have to find a way to protect ourselves while we find out, and then deal with it once we know what it is. We know some of our enemies, we should get ready to face them, and others too."
"Pura and I could scout the area once we're close enough," Timper offered. "Find out what we're dealing with."
"I'll try to detect any magic around," Mariel volunteered.
"Then the rest of us will get ready to fight," Erin decided. "It won't be easy. Wilson and Jor alone will be tough to handle, and they must have allies. Some we may have already met, and others too. Maybe the tacker we found the other night and the mysterious lady he was taking orders from... possibly Day, I doubt we've seen the last of him. Maybe even Miranda. And the embreals who promised to meet us again. I'd try to figure out how they're organized and find a weak spot in their structure, preferably more than one."
"I don't know how to do that," said May shaking half from the cold and half from her mental images.
"No, I wouldn't have thought you did," Erin comforted her. "Leave that to the experienced ones, there's no time for you to learn that now. You and your brother do your best to stay safe. If you can help others do so, but not at the expense of your own lives. Children are often the first to die in a war. I don't like saying this, but you must know it. And Ralph here may argue that he's not a child, but you two certainly are. You're not even thirteen yet."
"We have fought back home, and in Twocastle," protested Jim. "We know how to do it! And what about Eric? He's not that much older than us."
"If you like fighting so much, just make sure you live to fight again, that's all I'm saying. And Eric is a special case, you don't see many like him. But he's still innocent himself and will have to be careful. Whatever happens, it's bound to leave a mark on him. Just like you two have marks of your own. That's what war does to those involved."

Jim and May lowered their heads and Eric looked at Erin gloomily. The kiss was all but forgotten. Things were serious and, although no one said it, they all knew no more laughter would resound for some time.

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Do not fear... the previews are here.

"I may need help," the elf admitted. "But I'd rather miss something than be found out by our enemies."

"It's the last day of winter," she told herself. "How very dramatic. Whatever happens now, and tomorrow, things will never be the same. I guess they'll be better. They can't possibly be worse."

"He wants to be last," said Haggaus assertively. "It'll increase the effect of the surprise. He'd better make it worth it."

"Sounds terrible. But if anyone could survive that, it had to be you."

"Let the ceremony begin," announced Haggaus, feeling once again on top of things.

Things need to get moving, for it is the... Last day of winter.

[Lune the Guardian]

What intriguing previews! And I just love that next chapter's title! Just the feeling it gives...

I'm glad you put in that little scene with Erin and Timper. I was starting to get cold shivers just from reading the chapter! That scene helped make me laugh and warm things up again.

I wonder what happened to Feshara. And it's good that the mystery of the lost book is finally explained.

I also feel bad for the lurians, having to hide in compressed forms. It must be really uncomfortable for them. Hopefully Pura is right and they'll start to free themselves, slowly but surely.

I'll make a real effort to be on a lot more now. Let me know if you've written another chapter! I wouldn't want to miss it. Especially since conflict seems to be imminent now that all twelve have assembled.

[Lady Vulpix]

Thanks, Karin! It's great to have you back!

Yes, conflict is - almost - imminent, but considering my writing speed it will take a while to come. You'll see more of Feshara in the next chapter. She's the most sadistic character about whom I've ever had fun writing (admittedly, it's her other traits that make her fun to write). I'm not sure about what you mean but "what happened" to her, but I will assume you're asking about what happened in her hometown. Let's say she hasn't exactly had a happy childhood.

As for the lurians, they're a very unusual race. They can come to an agreement and respect it for thousands of years, but changing old ways is hard for everyone. It's bound to take a while before they're ready to go public.

Speaking of which... have you read "Earning a name"?

Oh, I've read your story. It was quite different from what I expected from the alleged spoiler, so that means you were right, it wasn't a spoiler after all. It was original and moving, as most of your writings. I liked the ending. Thanks for sharing it with me.

[Lune the Guardian]

Haha, well, I won't be complaining about your writing speed. The quality of your stories makes up for it! That, and I write slowly, myself. Take your time.

I am rather impressed by the lurians and their resolve to respect agreements. It takes a lot of coordination and mutual trust to do that. However, I do agree that it is also somewhat of a weakness when change is required.

I have not read "Earning a name". Where can I find a copy?

And I'm glad you liked the story! Thank you for reading it.

I'll be looking forward to more Quest of Twelve and (possibly) a continuation of your contest story, if you decide to expand it. I'm actually considering rewriting and reposting Lune, trying to rally up a new reader base. It'll be specifically set in the RBY GSC RuSaEm generation. I read through my chapters and just felt that I didn't want to waste the story and I'd like to finish it this time around... because I did - and still do - have the ending planned already. But I'm still worried that I won't get many readers, so I don't know if I'm up to rewriting again.

[Lady Vulpix]

"Earning a name" is here. I hope you like it.

As I said, lurians are unusual.

I'm glad to know you're thinking of Bringing Lune back. I loved that fic and it would be great to see more of it.

I'll be writing more as soon as my life allows it.

[Lune the Guardian]

Yay. I read "Earning a name" and I really liked it. The story made Haggaus much more real to me - fleshed him out so to speak - because he is a pretty mysterious and behind-the-scenes character in Quest of Twelve. I like the recurring theme of armies of twelve. It's just a chilling feeling that the orb has THAT much control over history and the entire workings of time. Though, I'm not sure whether Haggaus made the right choice about Jor - Jor seems to be running a lot of things behind his back. The way Haggaus treats Jor is as a superior to an inferior (especially in the earlier chapters), and although Jor seemingly obeys Haggaus, it looks like he has a mind of his own. I guess we'll see what happens.

[Lady Vulpix]

I'm glad you liked it. That's actually the reason why I wrote it: to explain who Haggaus is and what his motives are.

Yes, the orb is very powerful and dangerous, but the orb alone cannot cause a war. It only fuels the ambition and powerlust that are already there. It has other dangerous powers too, but they have to be activated by external sources.

As for Haggauss feeling of superiority, that's his greatest flaw and Jor is indeed trying to exploit it. Whether he will succeed or not, only time will tell. Jor's talent for deceit was one of the main Haggaus's reasons to choose him, though, so he clearly does not trust him completely. He's been suspecting him for a while, hence why he sent Miranda to spy on him; it was someone else he underestimated - Jor just happened not to make the same mistake, so now he knows something Haggaus doesn't. And he had a reason for that too: (Spoiler:) he trusted his own knowledge of the orb too much to expect an exception to happen, especially since even the one he admired the most had succumbed to it.

I'm not sure whether that's a spoiler or not, but if you'd rather not risk it, wait until you've read chapter 32 and then read it.