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"Aaron!" Her voice was joyous. They had won! Sunlight filtered through the spring time leaves and shone upon his hair. The light created a crown upon his golden hair. His crown… the inheritance that was rightly his and no other's. A new spring leave broke prematurely free from its mother branch, coming to dance between them.
The world breathed. The scent of newness was ripe on the young breeze. That playful sylph tossed and danced upon his hair, twisting it as a lion's mane. The war was won! Her wounds in that last battle had been grievous, but she had lived for the promise of his love. She could feel the rhythmic throb of Mother Earth's heart beat under her bare feet. The same feet, which now, caked in dirt though they were, danced to meet him.
A smile stretched across her lips, denying the blood and bandages that spotted her body.
But he did not turn.
"Enna. I am sorry." His words were like a barrier, cutting her off before she could reach him. Flowers budded against the sweet light green of the sprouting grass. Life was springing back to the world. The dread lord of shadows was dead. Why was he sorry? Confusion echoed in her mind, but fear lived in her heart.
"I love another. I will not be back, Enna. Goodbye." And he walked away. The world swayed. She was dimly aware of the sound her knees made as they thudded in the tender moss. His name dropped from her lips like a half forgotten prayer.
Between them danced a single green leaf.
------
Darkness. Eons of Darkness. Then, suddenly, there was light and with it came awareness. Voices where whispering around her. She knew these voices, the soothing whispers of nature and her children. There was no fear here. She was home. For a time she drifted unsure of her destination. Seasons came and went the leaves turned from green to the brilliant golds and reds of autumn's secret treasure. Then the world glistened with ice and snow and suddenly all was green again.
One day she found herself in a place she dimly remembered. Thousands of people dressed grimly gathered at a great stone mausoleum. The clouds above were the same shade as the granite of the walls. She drifted forward, passing between the people with no difficulties.
The sky split with a wail of thunder and its tears came to join those of the people below.
"And to the earth we commend her. She who fought in our great king's name! She who brought to us the earth's blessing! The last of the great Hytianni and the victor of the great battle of Evening! To the heavens, we return our champion! May the angels treasure her as we did in this life, when she walked amongst us and fought bravely by our king's side to see us free from the Shadow King.
To the gods, we gift back Enna the golden, brave champion of right." The speaker's voice boomed across the field. She recognized that voice…the deep bass that had always invoked in her images of bears and great drums.
"Kentrial…" she whispered. Her voice caressed the great warrior and weaved it's way through the crowd. Many would leave that solemn occasion, certain that the great warrioress had been present.
Kentrial, Lion of the Light, wept.
"To the darkness, we loose our greatest friend."
------
Time passed, colors fled before her dozing awareness. Voices cried to her. Sometimes she answered, gifting what was within her power to give. Slowly those voices died away, and she slipped into the darkness once more.
Suddenly she was awoken by a call, a tug at her soul that could not be denied. Across the lands she flew, outracing the winds and tempests. Her hair flew about her, upsetting gates and tossing the burdens of the unwary. Upon the earth her feet beat the cadence of a thousand horses.
"Damn it all Aaron, it is all your fault! You killed her! You knew exactly what you were doing! And now what are we doing to do? Ten years she's been gone. Ten! And now you think the Shadow might be returning? With whom are we to fight it? The druids have fled and the Magickers refuse to have anything to do with us!"
The shadow…the shadow had returned.
==== Chapter Two
Soul's light
"Goodbye." Oh the cruel echo of that word that plagued her when all other sounds had fled.
"Goodbye" The sound that was the object of her dreams and nightmares.
"Goodbye" the source of her torment. The end of her world. Had he known what he was doing when he uttered those last killing syllables? Had he cared when he had killed her so surely, with just one word? The soft tattoo beat of rain above her. A soft sob, no louder than the gentlest of breezes through the wind, broke through the darkness to join it.
Once again the consciousness fled into dreams.
------
Blackness. She should have been used to it by now, but there was something wrong with these shadows. A dozen unfamiliar feelings of which she could not immediately name assaulted her. What was this?
Her brow furrowed. Her eyes opened. Yes…that was it. She was hot. There were a thousand aches across her body. Most of all her chest, no- her lungs, cried with burning agony. She surged. The toned muscles of a warrior responded and her palms and knees found the stone above her with bruising force that tossed that slab free.
She sat up, sucking in the precious life giving oxygen her body craved. The skin on her hands tingled distantly. Idly she realized she must have skinned them. Where was she? Memory flooded back to her. She sprang from the box in which she had been imprisoned.
"The shadow!" Her hand found the familiar grip of her sword at her side and wrapped around the weathered leather. A cursory glance of the room showed she was alone, and revealed to her the only exit for the room. Her foot slammed into the thick oaken doors, cracking the rotting beam on the other side.
"Who imprisoned me?" she hissed under her breath. Tossing her night-dark hair from her eyes. Damn. Some one had stolen her hair band. Now the long locks of the accursed curling substance strayed stubbornly into her face. She growled impatiently, tearing a leather thong from her belt and binding the stuff back. Under her breath she snorted. Poets compared her hair to the foam of the sea and the tresses of sylphs and naiads. She called it annoying. The only reason she had grown out the accursed stuff was because Aaron liked long hair.
For some reason yet unknown to her she slipped her hunting knife free and cut those flowing locks off. Her hair instantly curled, framing her defined cheekbones and bouncing with merriment that defied the deadly gleam in her eyes. Her bare feet padded silently upon the cold stone, feeling not the bitter bite of early spring's chill. A true warrior noticed not such trifling inconveniences.
Finally she found the stairs. With a snarl of impatience she stormed up the steps. A few discarded stands of hair littering the steps the way she had come. She had no fear of the witchcraft that could be worked with it. Most Hytianni were resistant to magic. Her shoulder slammed into this portal. The dragon designed on that bicep seemed to surge, as if attacking the wood itself.
Again the doors burst open. Enna Kivvan took her first breath of clean air in fifteen years.
------
Enna savored the scent of spring for a moment, treasuring it as only a warrior of the earth could. She opened her emerald eyes slowly.
The first thing she noticed was that she was standing in knee-deep grass. The second was that there were some farmers a few yards from her, amongst a bunch of sheep…and they were screaming. The words flying from their dirty, slack mouthed faces were largely unfamiliar to her. Something about gods, saints, heroes returning from the dead, and taking revenge for. Grazing… on their lands? Pure nonsense, all of it.
She snorted as they ran away, and stalked toward the nearest town.
---
The ceremonial beads of her blade clinked lightly together as she walked through the town. Often she got strange looks. Many people withdrew into their homes, hiding from the sight of the stranger. She did not mind. The beads caught the light of the sun briefly, lighting up like tiny sparks of flame. A whisper in her mind caught her attention.
Enna stopped dead in the middle of the street, slowly looking around until she found the source of the whisper. There, a brown stallion. He was just into adulthood by the look of him, and as yet unbroken. A smile broke her harsh features as she approached the corral owner.
"You." She stated simply. The word was the same still apparently, whatever language they spoke. The herder shied away from her. She wasn't surprised, considering that she was taller than many men even now. Surely to this commoner her tanned skin and almond eyes were the stuff of legends. Her green eyes glinted in the noonday sun, like twin gems filled with mystical light.
"I want that horse." She minced her words, saying them slowly so he would be sure to understand. He stammered something and she cut him off with the quick slash of her hand.
"I want. That. Horse." She repeated, dropping twenty-seven gold crowns into his hand, just about what she judged the horse worth. His eyes nearly bulged out of his dirt caked skull. Enna ignored the rest of his protests, walking up to the Stallion. He came to her eagerly, prancing like a colt.
The warrioress smiled and rested her forehead against his muzzle, letting him take in her scent.
~Hello spirit brother. I humbly request your help in returning to the place I am most needed. Will you aid me?~ she whispered into his mind. He whickered, butting her hard enough to knock her back. She stumbled and caught herself with the grace of any dancer. Confusion wrought her face, at least…till he pranced sideways and presented her his back.
"I see!" she laughed. The Hytianna placed her hands on his withers and vaulted herself up.
"Then let us ride!" She called even as he wheeled. The woman kept her balance by moving with him and gripping with only her knees. His hooves pounded into the dirt, racing in perfect time with the beat of her heart and the drum that was Gaia's.
------
"Wha's 'at?" Lionel elbowed Jordan in the side. Jordan grunted and made to elbow him back,
"I dun see n-" he trailed off as the small cloud of dust rapidly became a rider galloping for them. Hastily the two guards dropped their pole arms to block the path.
"Halt!" The cried simulationsly, voices ringing like twin blades of steel. The rider pulled up beside them, then the stranger -- A woman to boot!-- dropped from the horse and onto the ground, bare feet balancing lightly on the dirt.
"What be your business?" Lionel growled fiercely. The woman stared him in the eye, challenging him. He looked away first.
"My name is Enna Kaainzashi, Hytianni of the third rank. I demand to see prince Aaron." She snarled at them. Her accent was a bit weird, but that blade on her hip was unlike anything either young guard had seen.
"Hah! Enna the Brave is dead. Try another one lad-eee!" his challenge turned into a shriek of dismay as she disarmed both himself and Jordan-- and with her bare hands!
"Move out of the way, or I shall move you." She snarled, face undergoing a frightening change. Both men scuttled out of the way as she stalked past. The horse followed them, and the expression on it's face look suspiciously like it was laughing at them.
------
"Your highness, intru-" the alarm from the poor man was cut off as he was tossed headlong into the room just before a figure from the king's memory stalked through the door.
"Good god of light…" Aaron heard Kentrial mutter beside them. Gwyn stiffened next to him…it was obvious she recognized the woman too.
"Aaron! What trash do you have protecting you? Pah! You call these guards? They lack finesse… If I didn't know better, I'd say Kentrial trained them." The woman announced. Her lean body rippled with muscle hidden only by a cropped vest and soft leather pants, exposing her arms and stomach to the entire world. She was like a weapon herself steely and uncompromising. As soon as she stepped into the sun all three royals were caught by the glint of her predator's eyes. She seemed surprised to see them as well.
"Gaia… Aaron? Kentrial? What in the lady's name happened to you? You look…ancient." She scowled, "I told you the ale would do this to you." She added, frowning fiercely. The response was so like her that Aaron was immediately put at ease…if still a bit confused.
"Enna? You're supposed to be dead!" Gwyn gasped.
"Hah! I always said hell would spit you back out, you she-devil!" Kentrial spluttered, looking as if he didn't know whether to run screaming or cheer with joy.
"Dead? Pah. How could I die before the battle was won? I promised, did I not? Swore blood oath that I would not rest until the Shadow king was firmly whipped from the lady's earth for another century at least." She responded. Her lip curled in that all-too familiar sneer.
"But… Aaron…he…" Kentrial muttered, glancing at Aaron and his queen. At last Enna noticed. Her heart hardened in her chest. So, Aaron had turned to the rouge while she was gone. The hurt was immense… a sense of betrayal plagued her. Her spine stiffened with anger.
"I see. Meh. Your children will be prettier than a unicorn, and have as much in their empty skulls." She growled, "But I have no care. Populate the throne with idiots, for all I care. The shadow king is my only priority." She felt a certain sense of satisfaction watching the pain go across their faces. Yes, a warrior was a warrior not just with the blade. Her green eyes grew as hard as the gem they were oft compared to.
"Stop gawking! We are at war! The fate of gaia depends on you, and all you can do is stare like slack jawed idiots?" she snarled moving as if she were going to come closer. Aaron and Kentrial automatically grasped the hilts of their blades. Their white knuckled hands caused the leather on the hilts to creak and groan in agony. Something of her words got through to the king. A sense of guilt surged through him. She was right… he had a duty to fulfill, and it was not to spend time gaping every time Enna did something strange or violent.
"I see." He sighed, running his fingers absently through his golden beard.
"Kentrial, would you be so good as to call the war council? I believe Enna has just given proof to our fears." The king closed his eyes wearily.
Yes. The Shadow had returned.
==== Chapter 3
Change
Damn them…damn them both! Enna raged as she stalked the patio like a caged tiger. Her teeth flashed in a snarl. Raging at the current injustice they had done to her. Placing her in the 'best rooms' they had to offer, which translated to 'the rooms farthest away from the royal chambers'. In and of itself she likely would not have minded, save that every man woman and child in the entire palace knew exactly why she had been banished to that lonely tower.
How often had Aaron's fool tongue boasted that he had once been the lover of the last Hytianni? The looks she received behind her back. They feared her, and they looked down upon her at the same time. What ever acceptance she had earned as the champion of the battle of Evening had disappeared while she had been away.
"How dare they--" Her oath was cut off. Someone was watching her. The rage grew unreasoning as she whirled on her heels, prepared to tear off the person's head with her bare hands. A pare of blue eyes stared back at her from the shadows. Terror and wonder was lit in those orbs….that were no more than hip height to her. The anger drained out of her completely.
"Ah. A child. Come small one, I shall not harm you. Though it is most fortunate you are not one of your elders." She smiled softly, dropping to her haunches and reaching out a weathered hand to the scared little one. The youngster slipped out of the shadows like he was born to them. The sunlight caught on his golden curls and tossed a halo of light around his head. A daring child. There was something of a challenge in his young eyes when he caught her gaze again.
"My… my papa said you're the most dangerous person in the entire kingdom." He announced challengingly. Enna smiled softly.
"It might be. I have no recollection. I am by no means the most dangerous being in all the kingdom, however." She said as she stood up smoothly. The boy looked confused. It was as if he had expected some claim of bravado or some offer to display her might. Her eyes narrowed a fraction. Already life among his people was warping his values from Gaia's true intent.
"Listen young one, would you like to learn how to fight?" she asked suddenly, moved by the spirit of the mother toward some end she could not yet see. The sun lit all around the shadowed patio on which they stood. They were encircled by the shade and cool stones. A glint in the child's eyes told that he was both shocked and pleased by this sudden offer. He hesitated but a moment, then responded with a fierce nod of his head.
"Then come little lion, and I shall teach." Enna bade, striding off into the tall grass.
-----
Bright sun glinted off the exposed steel on the two forms in the field. A breeze rippled the tall blades of the see of grass. Kentrial, Lion of Light, stood in awe of the predatory grace he had half forgotten. Once more Enna placed the young prince's feet and instructed him on how to move. His attempts looked as unfinished as his small form did compared to hers. Yet Enna watched and nodded.
"Good. Shift your weight to the left. Farther. Yes. Good. Now tumble!" Her last words barked across the open field, startling the youngster. Enna sighed and shook her head.
"That's enough. You did very well today Devon." She said. The youngster rolled to his feet and looked rebellious at her platitudes. Enna silenced him with the look that could quell rioting citizens and elementals alike.
Three weeks Enna had been teaching Devon. It was a forgone conclusion she knew who the youngster was. If the fact he was her ex-lover's child biased her against him in anyway she had not yet shown it. Kentrial watched as Devon tore off through the grass. Back towards the castle the youngster ran, Kentrial hesitated before heading off after the child.
No sooner than was Devon out of sight than did the temperamental warrioress explode. A blood chilling keen burst from her lips and throat. The sound would not have been out of place rising from the mouth of a banshee. Her blade hissed out of its sheath as smoothly as a fish through water. Enna battled and Enna danced. Her bare feet found purchase on the rich earth below her while her form twisted, writhed and surged, lashing at the enemies only she could see. Those feet pounded like the drum beats of the wildest of reels.
It could only have been hours that Kentrial sat spellbound. To him it had seemed like the merest of minutes, as his memories came to life before him. The awe he had held for her the first time he had seen her fight rose back to the surface. He remembered how they had come to meet. She had rescued himself and Aaron from a battle in which they were sorely out numbered. Kentrial remembered how the then-humble Aaron had begged for her aid in rescuing his kingdom from his evil uncle. How mysterious she had seemed then. How invulnerable she had appeared.
Then the memories of the following nights rose to his mind. Slowly the warrioress had unfolded before them. Kentrial recalled the look on her face as she had told them the fate of her people. The shadow had come, and she was the last…spared only because she had been hunting. Sorrow had haunted those sharp features. It turned out she was heading for the last temple of her kind in order to gain Gaia's blessing.
The Hytianni, the great warriors of the earth, were all but gone. Then that day, when they had stood before the statue of the most beautiful creature either man had ever seen. Something that had surpassed awe had filled the room as a goddess directly gave her answer to the searchers.
"To King Aaron, thou whilst triumph upon the shoulders of great warriors. In your hands they will place their trust. It is yours to provide comfort and spiritual light. Should you falter, all will be lost."
"To Kentrial, bravest of warriors. You are none of my own, but my sister smiles upon you. She names you champion of her light. Your duty is to protect young Aaron and guide his steps. He shall need your support more than any other's."
"To my daughter. Enna. The Hytianni are not yet lost. Upon you the heaviest burden rests. You must defeat the Shadow for the King and the Kingdom. Should you succeed the Hytianni will be reborn. I am sorry to rest this upon you, young one. If there were a choice I would not gift this curse to you."
And then the presence was gone, leaving all to wonder why the goddess's voice had sounded so sorrowful as she spoke of Enna's future. In hindsight, Kentrial thought he knew now. Finally Enna's blade slipped back into its sheath as silently as it had come forth. Her head was bowed. Her eyes were closed. She looked very much like she had at the end there.
His mind flew back again. Remembering how her hair had flown like a banner in the wind. Her back was straight with pride and strength, defying the many grievous wounds she bore upon her body. He had watched her slowly lower her blade to the ground. Her chin had dropped to her chest and her eyes had drifted shut. The battle was won! A ragged cheer had risen up across the battlefield as the Shadow's soldiers had died with him.
And then after.
He wasn't even supposed to have been there, but he had to see what Aaron was going to do. Enna was fresh from the medic's tent. No force could keep her there any longer. He recalled the bounce in her step and the light in her eyes as she had dashed to meet the newly crowned king. Enna had opened her heart completely to the once-prince, believing her love to be returned. Surely she had wondered why Aaron had not visited her in those weeks she had been confined? Perhaps she had dismissed it, believing she simply didn't remember, having been near death. Maybe she excused it for unavoidable matters of the state.
She entered the grove, her grove, alive and happy. Kentrial had watched as Aaron had awkwardly tried to let her down. He explained it after. He had thought, maybe, if he did it roughly her warrior instincts would respond. The prince had hoped that if he made her angry, she would be okay.
Kentrial watched as Aaron took those first few steps from her. Kentrial had watched as the light went out of her eyes. Her knees had buckled like they never had in battle. Her face had paled in an agony she had never shown, even when being lashed by the Shadow King's blade. He had burst from the bushes, trying desperately to reach her before she hit the ground and it's cruel rocks. He had been too late.
Afterward the physicians and healers had battled for months trying to save her. The claimed it was because she had gone out to early, that she had pressed herself too hard. Kentrial and Aaron had known the truth. Aaron had faltered. Kentrial had not guided him. Together they had lost her heart. Together they had struck the mortal blow the Shadow had never managed. They had killed the last Hytianni.
The day she had passed the heavens had wept. All the way to her home village they had traveled. Some of them had thought it fitting to put her to rest in the place she had been born.
But now she was back. Did she remember those last moments? Kentrial was not sure. Seeing her now, his heart contracted in his chest. This was not the proud warrioress. This was Enna. Enna, standing all alone against the backdrop of the setting sun, looking more frail than the blades of grass around her. Enna… Enna, weeping in the lonely silence, where she thought no one could see.
And the fiery light of the dying sun bathed the earth in red.
==== Chapter Four
Blood Oath
Enna watched from her shadowed corner as the council of war convened. It was ridiculous how all these giant men attempted to squeeze themselves around one small conference table. All of them bellowing and roaring at one another like steers challenging for land. Her arms laced across her chest. The smooth stone of the wall against her shoulders and upper back was comforting. It was probably the only thing that kept her from tossing one of the old bulls out a window.
"We don't have enough troops!"
"The Ussen refuse to aid us!"
"The Kiln will not come either!"
"It is impossible, your highness!"
"Our allies of the last war have all gone into hiding. Those that remain refuse to help!" impassioned advisors yelled and roared. Then, out of all the clamor, a quiet voice.
"If our old allies will not help us, then we must return to the legends. After all, it was from the legends our first allies came." The quiet voice belonged to a tall, skinny man with lots of dark hair, all swept back from a widow's peek. In the silence wrought by his first statement he stepped forward.
"We have all read the children's story books. Dragons, Unicorns, Ussen, Kiln. All legends. But I ask you, if the Ussen and Kiln exist, why not the rest? Surely one of these races would come to our aid!" he spoke softly with a voice like velvet.
Enna nodded silently in agreement. If the bear folk and the people of the sea would not help, then they must look for allies elsewhere. The men around the table were silent. Finally one of the older looking warriors spoke up.
"I seem to remember an old legend about a Haven. The place where all the legends fled to when men over took the world. 'the gates of Haven reside between earth and sky, land and water. Only he who is a true follower of the Mother can find and open the gate' it said." He rumbled. Enna glowered at him as heads started to nod around the table. Trust the old fools to twist a Hytianni legend. The legends were the true children of Gaia, and they did not 'flee'. Haven was their kingdom and their capital, the place where they had lived for eons. They had simply sealed the gate against humans when the creatures had proved treacherous.
Enna finally became aware that all eyes were on her. Anger rose in her stomach, hot and harsh. So these men, these people, expected her to lead them to salvation yet again? She bit back a snarl. So she would, but not for them. The Shadow King had to be stopped for the good of the Mother. These humans held no delight for her anymore. Their king had killed all the love in her heart, and any friendship she might had held after was killed by Kentrial. Kentrial… who stood by and watched Aaron subject her to one injustice after another, and made no move to aid her. He too had seemingly forgotten the close bond of friendship they had once held.
Maybe he's in love with Gwyn too. She swallowed the uncharitable thought. The only thing worth saving for the humans now was their children.
"I know of what you speak, and I know the way there," she began, her voice only an octave or two above a growl. Immediately the men broke into smiles. As if they had doubted she would lead them! Hah. They were right to doubt.
"But." That one word cracked through their joy like a leaden whip, "I will not take you there." The looks of dismay that crossed their faces brought her another ounce of grim satisfaction. The looks of anger and outrage…she matched with one of her own.
"What? You thought I would lead you treacherous creatures to the very gate of the last Haven? You think I would just hand over to you the last hope of the true children of Gaia? To you? The slayers? The betrayers? When did you earn that right? When have you proved yourself worthy?" she snarled. Every one of them understood what she was talking about now. Many of them blanched, and others had the grace to look ashamed.
"Nay, You take and take and take, unheeding of the fact you are slowly killing all around you. I shall not take you. However, I will go." She finished. Now the looks on their faces were stunned.
"I shall go alone." She held up a hand to silence their immediate and vehement protests, "But I shall take with me the humans of my choice." She declared. Many of the men started to look uneasy now. Aaron actually looked afraid! As if she would choose him! She snorted through her nose.
"I choose him-" she stabbed a finger at the lean man who had interjected the first ounce of reason into the council. He looked shocked. Many of the members of the council started protesting that he was too young, too weak, too unhealthy, not worthy.
"As if I should take any of you great and worthy warriors? Fine." She spat the word and jabbed her finger at Kentrial. Now every single face in the council except her own looked shocked and horrified.
"I will take him as well. Be ready at dawn. Tomorrow, we ride." Enna declared just as she stalked out of the chamber, leaving chaos and cacophony behind her.
------
Edward son of Darron felt just a bit faint. What on earth had possessed the woman to choose him of all people? Had she suspected…did she know? No…how could she? Hytianni were not known to sense magic. She could not know he was a mage. He took a moment to glance at the faces of his fellow advisors. All of them, including himself, had inherited that role. Some of the men looked shocked. Many of them looked aggrieved and outraged.
How could they not, considering that speech she had given on the foulness of humanity? The king was alarmingly pale. Edward hurriedly poured a glass of wine and elbowed his way through the crowd to his side. The king looked almost embarrassingly grateful as he quaffed the stuff.
"Everyone! Out!" Bellowed Kentrial. Edward turned to follow the rest of the men when the heavy hand of the most famous warrior fell upon his shoulder.
"Not you. You stay." Kentrial spoke in a gentler tone. The door closed behind the last of the advisors, leaving the three men alone in the room.
"What could she be thinking?" King Aaron murmured. Kentrial sank into a chair himself.
"Maybe… maybe revenge?" Aaron continued. Kentrial shook his head.
"No, if you think she means to kill me, I doubt that." Kentrial muttered. The man shook his mane of red hair and ran his thick fingers through it, "But aye, I do think this is some sort of revenge. I think she means to do this so that she can keep us both on our toes. And I think it was a deliberate jab at you. Like she was saying 'I refuse to choose you' and shoving it in your face." Kentrial rubbed his cheeks with both beefy hands then rested the palms against his eyes. Edward was shocked. Enna was the last Hytianni! A legend! Many thought she was a saint, considering her miraculous return from death.
"S-surely not! Is it possible she simply wants on of her old companions with her? Perhaps she chose you because she still trusts you?" The young man ventured. Both older men let loose bitter laughter.
"Nah, I doubt that very much lad. I think we've broken her trust surely by this point, and I'll be damned if I can think of a way to patch it again. Heh, she's as sure to trust one of us as she is to call upon Kek to join us!" Aaron laughed.
"Who is 'Kek'?" Edward questioned.
"Ah, Kek. Kek was a Ussen and a good friend of ours. He was the son of the chieftain and the one who convinced his father to aid us in the first war. He was a good friend, he was." Kentrial explained.
"You say…'was'" Edward endeavored warily.
"Aye. He left us to return to his forest the same day Enna…" he trailed off, but Edward already knew what he had been about to say.
"When she died. I see. Then why me?" He questioned, "You two know her the best of all, surely you must have some clue as to her motives!" He exclaimed.
"Once I thought we did… now… now her thoughts are just as hidden from us as they are from you. This Enna… she is not the companion we once knew, and I am afraid that it is entirely our doing." Aaron sighed, face dark with something akin to grief.
"In other words, who in the world knows what's going through that she-devil's mind!" Kentrial exclaimed, lunging to his feet and thudding around the room. The great warrior was clearly agitated.
"Kentrial, sit down. We clearly have things to discuss." The king bade. The warrior reluctantly slid into his seat.
"We'll need to pack. Weapons, supplies and hunting gear… and things for the cold and wet as well." Kentrial started, "We all know that with Enna guiding us there's no telling where we'll end up. You remember what she said to us the first and only time we asked if she even knew where she was going?" the warrior cracked a small smile.
"Aye. 'Only the Mother knows.' She told us!" the King rejoined. For a moment the tenseness in the room fled. Of course, seconds later it was right back to business.
"Of course, we can't pack too much. Only what we can keep on our person, because we're likely to loose all else if this venture is any like the others we've had with her." Kentrial mused.
"Yes…and you're likely to be attacked by every minion of the dark imaginable. I would suggest you get as much equipment as you can blessed before you leave tomorrow. I'd offer you gold, but we both know it'll get stolen or lost before you're two thirds of the way out on your journey." The King half smiled.
"And that brings up another subject. What are we to do if she…if she…" Kentrial trailed off, seeming unable to bring himself to say the word 'betray'. A pained look crossed everyone's face.
"The amulet." The king rose stiffly from his chair and strode over to a small wooden box. From it he drew a simple wooden medallion.
"By gods… I had never thought to wear this again." Kentrial rumbled solemnly as he drew it over his neck. The king silently handed one to Edward, who eyed the thing curiously.
"'Tis an amulet of light boy. My goddess gifted it to me when we freed her temple of the taint. It does what ever we really need it to do. Of course, her idea of what we really need it to do differs greatly from ours. It's only set talent is that if any one of the wearers is injured or…gods forbid, slain, the other bearers shall know it." Kentrial sighed. Edward stared at the thing in a new light. Reverently he slipped it over his head. The weight settled comfortably onto his chest, as if it had always been there.
"We best be going then. There's much to be done before the night is over, and little time to do it." Kentrial finished, as the silence grew too heavy with memories. The three men rose from their chairs. The King clasped Kentrial's arm, and Kentrial returned the grasp. For a long time they stood there, simply sharing the silence of two good friends. Edward hurried from the room, embarrassed to intrude on what was obviously a farewell between two friends that thought they might never see each other again.
===== Chapter Five
Beginning Anew
"Do you have to leave? We barely got any training at all!" Devon whined. Enna crouched before the child and looked him in the eye the way equals did.
"Yes. The world needs something from us, Devon. We all have a purpose, and being a true warrior means doing things you don't want to do, because that's what's right. It means not bowing to the wills of others. It means, young warrior, to follow your heart." She told him. Little did she know that those words would guide the young prince in years to come, or that he would pass those same words of wisdom on when the time came. She did not miss the awe in his young eyes, and could not help but smile.
"Run on little warrior. Your father needs your strength." Enna said softly. The young prince obediently ran on, pausing at the side entrance to wave a last goodbye to the warrioress.
Seconds later Kentrial and Edward exited through the main doors. Enna observed them quietly. Her eyes fell upon the amulets they wore across their chests. A stab of pain shot through her heart. Quickly she turned away, not wanting them to see the reaction those familiar pieces of oak invoked in her. Everyone knew that they were a blatant sign that the men did not trust her.
"Come spirit brother. We must away." Enna said, launching herself onto the horse's back. The horse whickered, wheeling and stomping. He was as ready to be away from the place as she. The men had barely gotten onto their own horses when she let out a whiled whoop.
"To the wind! Let us ride!" she cried. The stallion responded with a cry to match her own. As they galloped away Edward was given an insight as to just what this venture was going to be like.
-----
"Excuse me Ms. Enna. Might I ask a question?" Edward tentatively broke the three-day silence. The Hytianni looked back at him with an arched eyebrow. While the others were already saddle sore, she showed no sign of discomfort. Already man peasants had mistaken the woman as Centaur, for how she moved with every movement of her horse.
"You may ask. I cannot guarantee an answer." Enna replied. Kentrial snorted, but Edward forged on anyway.
"You call your horse, 'spirit brother'… I was wondering…is that his name?" He had been wondering since the start of the voyage.
"No. His name is Vex. I call him spirit brother, because he is my spirit brother." Enna paused and sensed his unanswered question.
"No, young Edward, Hytianni are not exactly human. We are the children of Gaia, and all animals are our brothers and sisters. Their spirits resonate with our own. Sadly, in recent times, many of our siblings have grown weak and stupid. There are not many that match our own in spirits. We treasure these rare siblings, and care for them as our family. Vex is one such brother." She explained as she shifted her weight easily to adjust to the horse's change in gait.
"I see. So, he's…smarter than either of our horses? This is some sort of mystical bond?" Edward asked. Enna laughed, and Vex made some sort of strange wuffling nose that sounded awfully close to a chuckle.
"Yes, he is smarter than both of your horses combined. No, it is no mystical bond. It is the same as any bond between siblings. We can argue, disagree, and fight. We might not even like each other, but we are still siblings in a world where there are so few left." Enna replied with a small smile.
"You human think anything unlike your own ways is either mystical or the work of devils. It is sad. The lore of my people talks of days when humans lived in tribes, not kingdoms. When your race was eager to learn and far more concerned with honor and values. There was no prejudice. It is a sad thing to see just how far the shadow has dragged your race." Enna sighed mournfully.
"Yet, I find it funny how your people view me. As a small child, I thought the humans were the stuff of fantasy and legend." She chuckled quietly, not wanting to inform the suddenly proud young man that she had equated them with goblins and orcs, or that she wished they had stayed mythical. Enna watched out of the corner of her eye as his chest puffed out proudly. She saw Kentrial looking amused out of the corner of her other eye and bottled a laugh of her own. A laugh was a gift, and one she was not willing to give these humans.
"Look, the town is just ahead. We'll be stopping in the inn here over night." Enna said softly.
-------
The tavern was remarkably clean for it's sort. The lighting was just as dim as all the other buildings like it, but it didn't smell as strongly of unwashed bodies and stale ale. One of the wenches got them at small table out of the way of most traffic, where they wouldn't be stared at her. Enna offered her gratitude in the shape of a silver coin slipped into the girl's hand. The startled but grateful look of the girl was good enough to Enna.
After the three of them had tankards set before them the tavern grew suddenly quiet. Enna snuck a glance out from under her hooded eyes, wondering what the source of the disturbance. A tall man had stepped onto the raised floor that served as a stage in this tavern. In one hand he lazily held a lute. He was lanky and dark skinned, with the look about his eye that marked him a gypsy decedent. The man wasn't dressed outlandishly or outrageously like many of his sort did. Actually, if not for his muscled physique and extraordinary eyes, he was quite average looking.
Enna frowned. What was all the excitement about, then? He opened his mouth, and then Enna knew. Glory flowed into her heart. Hope, laughter and light danced through her veins. He sang of fire and passion. He sang one of her people's traditional songs. Glee sprang to her eyes, lighting them with their own fire. A smile stretched across her face.
She did not notice the strange looks from her companions as her foot started tapping. Both men were shocked that the solemn woman showed such joy at a song. When the song faded the man switched to another, a song that had the feet of every man woman and child in the room tapping along. No longer could Emma stand it.
The warrioress surged from her chair with such power that the chair would have toppled if it hadn't hit the wall. Even as she landed her feet where matching the rhythm the drums should have been playing. She whirled to the sound of the flute that she remembered. Fire burned in her veins. Her short hair tossed in a tempest around her face, which was composed in rapture. The bare feet pounded the floorboards, her hips swung and swayed in patterns almost too quick for the human eye to follow.
Every eye was trained on her and the player. The bard looked pleased, instead of enraged like many would be, having their show stolen from them. No, he understood unlike like many others that this woman appreciated his music like no other. He knew her dance would remain fixed in the memories of all who witnessed it that day, and with it would remain his music.
She moved like the embodiment of wind and fire, leaping twisting and soaring like only a spark on a flame could. It was a show of physical prowess that no human could ever hope to match, and she didn't seem to be aware of that fact. There was no malice in the show. She was not attempting to prove just how inferior humans were. No, she was simply dancing as her people always had, and that made it even more beautiful in a way.
The music picked up. Suddenly the bar was rollicking as almost every patron started to clap their hands and stomp their feet in the rhythm the drums should have been playing. Magic graced the tavern, and for a while time ceased to have any meaning at all. Fire rolled in the blood of every person as both dancer and musician put their souls into the music. Sweat rolled down their dusky skin, outlining the muscles of the dancing Hytianni. Both of their eyes closed in rapture.
Again she leaped with the last soaring notes of the song, stretching and yearning for the sky. When she came back to the ground the song was over, but it continued to beat in the hearts of the people around her. Enna finally came aware of herself again, staring around the tavern as if she were surprised to see the people there…like she had expected to see something else entirely. An entirely different expression wrought itself across her face. Pain. Agony of which the humans could only wonder. She turned and met the eyes of the bard.
~"Welcome, Soul Sister."~ the voice flooded her mind, and again her heart leaped.
------
"So, let me get this straight. He's like you, but he's not like you." Kentrial arched a thick red eyebrow at her. She sighed in exasperation and rattled something off in her native language. Edward thought it sounded suspiciously like an oath.
"His people are cousins to my people. We are of the same nature. You call his people 'gypsies' we call them the Vytianni, people of the fire." Enna explained for perhaps the fifth time.
"That still doesn't explain why you invited the fool along!" Kentrial returned. Finally anger sparked in her eyes.
"Maybe it's because I have a desire for company I can trust." She snapped at him. Both parties were silent in the wake of that verbal blow. Hurt warred in the air. Enna turned away.
"He can't come anyway. He has family here." She sighed, "It is so like you humans to begrudge even a little time with siblings of the soul. You can't even begin to understand what it is to be completely with out brothers and sisters of the spirit, because you have never felt what it is to be Hytianni. How can I even describe it to you? It is like… it is like… when you humans fall in love. When you exist only for that person, but with an entire people. We feel each other; we are part of each other, like your twins. And all of my people are dead." She snarled. She had forgotten just how fresh those wounds were, but now they were open again. Still, she had revealed too much. Now they knew why the betrayal had injured her so badly, and they were sure to remember. She could see it in their eyes.
"We're leaving. You can come or stay. I no longer care." She growled, gruff in her pain. With her mind she called out to Vex. He hurried over, worried for her.
~"Come, soul brother, I can stand this place no longer."~ She whispered her pain to him and he bowed his head in understanding. The Hytianni swung upon his back, not bothering to see if the humans were following. Enna and Vex galloped into the sunrise, trying to outrun their pain.
-----
The forest was quiet. A balm to her wounds. Behind her she could hear the horses of her companions. Neither had said a word since her outburst two days again. She didn't mind. The closer they got to the place where she had lived most of her life, the calmer she became. It was a homecoming, even if there was little to come home too.
"Beware, soul sister. Humans have forged into the ancient lands of the Hytianni and claimed it for their own. The forest fights them, and wins, but its anger has become a dangerous thing, even for our own kind." The Vytianni had warned. Enna kept one ear out for trouble. It had gotten colder in the evening. Far colder than it had any right to, this early in the autumn. Vex scented moisture on the wind.
"We're going to have to set up camp early." Enna said to the silence behind her. There was no response. She did not expect one. It took them a few minutes to find a suitable clearing. The wildlife had all but taken over. Thankfully, Enna knew this place as well as any could, and she knew what to look for. Clearing it out was little problem. The Hytianni had once claimed the land, and the forest remembered that pact.
They had only just finished pitching the tent when the first snow started to fall.
"What in the gods names?" Kentrial broke the silence. Enna decided not to answer. He wouldn't like the reason. Off in the distance a wolf howled. Enna glanced up. A flake of snow slid upon her cheek and melted against that warmth. The acrid cold of it bit her nostrils as they flared, taking in that scent.
Soon the world around them was a stretch of white, with the occasional peek of green and brown through the blankets of snow.
"Miss Enna?" Edward's young voice broke the reverie the snow had lulled her into. She sighed, letting the strands of that calm slip through her fingers like sand.
"Yes, boy?" she responded as she watched the woods.
"What was that song you danced to, back at the inn?" he questioned quietly.
"The first was a song of war. The second was our traditional camping song. We played it, long after our people had settled out of their nomadic ways. It became a tradition. The people of the entire village would dance to it, every summer festival." She let out a long breath and her green eyes stared at him over the sharp angles of her cheekbones.
"Oh. It was beautiful." He muttered. Enna nodded slowly.
"Yes. It was." And silence reigned, save for the soft whispering of snow upon snow. Her eyes returned to the dark sky. She knew with the certainty of all children of the earth that this was no natural storm. Kentrial tossed her coat to her. She caught it with out looking directly at him. Of course, she didn't have to. Her elongated eyes afforded her excellent peripheral vision, and it was to miss a giant blob of tan leather flying at your face.
"Miss Enna?" Edward spoke up again as Enna shrugged herself into the warm leather of her jacket. The ends of her wild curling hair tickled the top of the soft rabbit fur.
"Mmm?" The warrioress responded with a grunt.
"Where are we headed?" He asked. Enna bit back the obvious retort that they were heading toward the gate. Obviously he meant where they were currently angling.
"The keep." She replied. He blinked at her slowly and nodded, murmuring 'I see' under his breath. It was clear he didn't understand the answer.
"That's what we call the abandoned fortress that marks the entrance to the pass." She explained, though she really didn't feel like it. The look of understanding dawning in his eyes almost made her laugh. She stifled that too.
"Miss Enna-" He began again. The Hytianni snorted again and interrupted.
"Kentrial's not here Edward. You don't have to call me Miss Enna, nor do you have to be afraid. What ever it is you're hiding, I will not hold it against you. After all, I do not hold the same prejudices against you your own kind would." A few moments of harsh silence filled the air after her declaration.
"I…see. I was wondering…what are you looking for?" He spoke finally. Enna had to smile. At least the boy was observant.
"It's been twenty years since I was last here Edward. Kentrial was a lad of sixteen years when he rode through these woods. I once had friends in this place. One in particular. I was hoping that he might still be among these trees." She broke off to howl. The sound was not quite the long and mournful cry of the wolves, but it was close enough to pass shivers down Edward's spine. The answering howl made him want to crawl inside his tent.
Enna's teeth flashed in a feral smile. She howled again, but when the answering howl came she frowned. There came a crash from the left, and for some reason Edward could not fathom, Enna swore and oath and ripped her sword from it's hilt.
Edward stumbled back into a defensive position, though he could not see the source of the trouble. He trusted the elder woman's judgment. After all, she had seen more of the world that he ever had.
It was well he did, for at that moment something lumbered out of the woods at them. It's shaggy coat fell from it in patches. Froth foamed at the abbreviated muzzle. There was a strange light in its dark eyes that spoke of some madness. The monster was well over the size of a moose. It was easily the largest creature the young man had ever seen. His horror only mounted as the thing swung back and lumbered to its feet.
A cry of warning died in his throat as Enna darted forward, striking quickly. Her blow surely would have found the creature's heart had it not lumbered back. The sword tip dove in the creature's side, surely piercing the kidney-- but such a blow was not immediately deadly. It bellowed a sound of rage that shook the fresh snow from the leaves. He heard Enna's startled oath and saw her stumble back from the creature.
This time he managed to get his warning out. It was too late, however, as the thing's massive paw collided explosively with the tall warrioress's side. Time slowed. He watched his companion fly back, her body twisted with the force of the blow. Three streams of red, red blood drew across the white snow in a contrast that was so vivid the young man would remember it for the rest of his ways.
Finally he saw what must have alarmed Enna. From the creature's side blood did not run. In its place some sort of black tar oozed. Suddenly another cry was bellowed. For a terrifying moment Edward thought there were two of the creatures now. Then He saw the red haired giant charge into the fray. Kentrial managed to land a mighty blow to the creature's shoulder.
Edward choked as he saw the limb flying off. He had to struggle not to loose his entire lunch upon the snow as well. A sick smell filled the air. Edward watched with revulsion as the spray of black tar sizzled where it had landed. The thing screeched. It was a sound that could not have come from any natural throat. It echoed on and on, bringing with it agony that dropped even strong Kentrial to his knees.
Finally the young man could not take it anymore.
"Enough!" he howled. The man threw his hands up and shouted another word that neither Enna nor Kentrial would have dared try to pronounce. From his fingertips four globes of perfect light shrieked. They impacted the thing's chest with a force that tossed the thing to its knees and ended the wail. Enna wasted no more time. She flew through the snow and drove her sword tip up through the bottom of the creature's jaw. The two held that pose for decades before Enna slowly withdrew her blade and danced back out of the way of the spray of tar.
The creature toppled like a felled tree. It was over.
 Themascura · Thu Dec 13, 2007 @ 01:26am · 0 Comments |
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