Hanetsuno V
Ice and Vengeance

It would seem that emotions are contagious. At least I hope that's true of all emotions. We've really only noticed it about hatred and fear thus far. When one person feels fear, it infects others nearby. When one person feels hatred, he will act upon that hatred, and that action will cause another to feel hatred.

I realize that we haven't had as much chance to witness love and hope. Hope seems to be contagious as well, though perhaps less so than it's opposite.

But perhaps it's not important. Many of the great things I've seen accomplished by hope and love have had fear and hatred to drive them as well.

Chapter 1

Gelrini approached one of Nalya's bridges uneasily. After one regretted glance downward, she held her chin up high enough that she wouldn't look down again by accident and preceded across.

Every bridge in town was devoid of faeries. They were normally used by the flightless inhabitants or faeries who were walking about with no particular destination. At the moment, everyone was either parked somewhere or flying in a hurry to go elsewhere. The town didn't have many flightless residents, and the refugees preferred to stay several stories lower.

The next platform Gelrini crossed was small and had three other bridges attached to it. Due to the foliage, only one of those bridges could be seen to its end. After a moment of consideration, she took one of the others.

It was longer path than she'd expected, and it slopped down somewhat. The house it led to didn't have its own platform, just the house itself and a small porch on the front. It was a rather small house, leading Gelrini to wonder if she was in the right place. She approached the door to knock on it as was human and faery custom, but it opened before her knuckles could touch it.

A faery woman stood in the doorway. After a brief bit of surprise, she gave a smile that hinted of irritability and said, "No visitors." She walked passed Gelrini and started to cross the bridge. Her antenna glowed, and a few seconds later, she was only a few inches tall and flying through the air.

Gelrini glanced back at the door, shrugged to herself, and started to leave, but the door opened again.

"Just ignore her," Roki advised. "I do." He gestured her inside.

"Is that your girlfriend?" she asked teasingly.

"She's my physician."

" Phyziwahh?"

"My thoughts exactly. Wait here a minute."

As Roki retreated into another room, Gelrini surveyed the one she was in. The walls and floor were wooden and plain. There was a bench against the left wall and another opposite of the front door; neither was cushioned, but both were covered with a blue cloth. A square knee-high table was centered between them, and the door Roki had left through was in the corner they surrounded. There were small circles drawn randomly over the left wall with ink, each filled with the groove of a removed arrow.

When Roki returned and noticed her looking around, he said, "My house is a lot cleaner than it was before I was wounded. I think the physician cleaned it... which is disturbing."

"Why?" Gelrini asked. "Did you have embarrassing things lying around?"

Roki laughed. "No, I hide those better. It's just the concept...."

"Oh." She noticed that he had something in his hand.

He slung a quiver of bolts over his shoulder and held the small crossbow up as a gesture. "Let's go outside," he suggested. She followed him out the front door and onto the right side of the patio. Looking off in that direction, she saw a bull's eye attached to a somewhat distant tree.

"I'm glad you found your way over here," Roki commented. "Who'd you have to ask?"

"I tried asking Prithvi, but she said she didn't know where you lived. So I found one of the hunters, and he gave me directions."

Roki laughed. " Prithvi doesn't know where I live? She forgot already?" He shot a bolt at the bull's eye and hit it dead in the center.

"Did she come over recently?"

"No, not recently. But she used to come over all the time. We were friends. Sort of."

"Sort of? She was your girlfriend?"

Another laugh. "Thankfully, no! Well, I don't know how we were ever friends in the first place--she's always been such a twit--but we were for a long time. But we started getting less and less friendly, and then one day we got in an argument over something stupid. We were always arguing, of course, but after that one, she stormed out and has tried to pretend she never met me ever since." He didn't sound disappointed. He reloaded the crossbow and handed it to Gelrini. "You try," he said.

She took the crossbow uncertainly and raised it up to aim. She was very careful and took more time to aim than she would normally be comfortable with.

The arrow plunked into the target... one ring away from the center.

"Not bad," Roki commented, "since you're not used to crossbows."

"Here she is!" a high-pitched but soft voice piped up. Gelrini and Roki turned around in start and saw Unicorn scampering along the bridge. Kyri emerged uneasily from behind the foliage.

"Ah, we were looking for you, Gelrini," Kyri said. " Prithvi said she thought you might be here since you asked her about it, and she told us the way."

Gelrini and Roki exchanged glances and shrugged. Kyri looked back and forth between them in confusion.

"Ah, well," Kyri said, "we're going to talk about what we've got to do next, and we figured you should be there to listen."

"Uh... sure, just a minute," Gelrini stammered.

"All right," Kyri said, picking up Unicorn. "We'll be in the town hall." She headed back toward the main part of the village.

"Looks like you've proven yourself," Roki commented with a grin. Gelrini was still reeling from how she was being invited to the discussion instead of having to barge her way in. "Just don't do anything to mess it up. It's a lot easier to lose a good reputation than it is to gain one."

"Yeah, that's right," said Gelrini. "Well, I have to go, so...." She started to hand him the crossbow.

He handed her the quiver of bolts instead. "Keep it," he said.

"Really?" Gelrini asked incredulously.

"I have plenty of time to make another before I'll get a chance to use it." He fluttered his shredded wings; they were growing back quickly, just not as quickly as he would've liked.

"Thank you so much!"

* * *

"Her Majesty has yet to recover," Prithvi said to the group of people seated on stools at the table in front of her. "I have...." She hesitated here. "...been informed of her plans. At the moment, our three most pressing concerns are--" She counted them off on her fingers. "Diplomatic relations with the elves, diplomatic relations with the humans of the Valley Kingdom, and the acquisition of the Frost Orb from the Temple of Ice. If possible, we'd like to arrange for the cooperation of the centaurs and dwarves who live on the northern continent.

"Cooperation from the humans is most essential because they're the only ones with a notable supply of trained infantry. However, humans have always liked to pretend faeries don't exist, and it will be no different now, so we need to handle them via the elves. Also note that the Temple of Ice is very, very far away, best accessed by ship. We have no ships; we'll need the elves for that too.

"All this dependence on the elves creates a problem, because, according to the most recent message from King Wealden, the Elven Nation cannot give us any aid at all due to--and I quote--an 'internal conflict.'" Prithvi rolled her eyes. "That could mean the child of some political leader has stubbed his toe, or that could mean they're having a civil war. You never know with elves."

The assembly consisted of Aikel, Kyri, Pegasus, Unicorn, Himeki, Flenn, Gelrini, and four faery warriors. Kyri glanced over her shoulder, worried that her elven comrade would be offended, but Himeki was fighting against a laugh.

"You all need to go to Alfheimana and have an audience with King Wealden and convince him to help us--no matter what you have to do. When possible, head north-northeast by ship. Some of you should stop in the Valley Kingdom to aid the elves with the humans." She specifically eyed Aikel and Kyri. "Some of you will continue northward to the Temple of Ice. The ancient Knights built that place long ago for the purpose of tapping the magical power of ice, so it's at the northernmost point of the traversable world, where the land is coldest. Dress for warmth." The rest of the speech was mostly for the faery warriors.

Back on the platform in front of the town hall, Himeki lost the battle against her laughter. She quickly composed herself, and mumbled, "It was funny because it's true," as explanation.

"Do you know what that 'internal conflict' might be, Himeki?" Aikel asked.

"I have a suspicion," Himeki answered. "If that's correct, it means the problem will be really easy to fix... but it'll also mean I come from a nation full of weenies." She pressed her lips together and rocked back on her heels. "So I'm not really sure what to hope for."

"We're supposed to go to Alfheimana...?" Flenn asked uneasily.

"Mmm-hmm." Himeki looked over her shoulder long enough to nod at him. Then she turned around more slowly to look at him. "Ohhh," mumbled in realization. She bit her lip.

Flenn made a futile attempt to look nonchalant.

"What? What's wrong?" Aikel asked, looking back and forth between them.

"Nothing, nothing," Himeki said quickly. "Don't worry." She made a 'calm down' gesture with her hands. "If anyone can get a half-human into Alfheimana, it's me." She placed a hand on her chest proudly.

Flenn turned noticeably red at being called a half-human. No one noticed a rustling sound save Gelrini, but Himeki saw Gelrini look upward and followed her gaze.

"Okay, two half-humans," Himeki amended, somewhat exasperated. "But as well as you hide in trees, you should be no problem."

"I'm not hiding," Rotebi's voice popped up, sounding only slightly offended. "This just happens to be a comfortable place to sit. It's not my fault the foliage is in the way!"

"It's still eavesdropping..." Aikel muttered.

"No, it's not!" Rotebi retorted. "Eavesdropping is going in under the roof of a building so that you can listen to people through the ceiling."

Aikel groaned.

"So when are we leaving?" Rotebi asked.

"You're not going anywhere. At least not with us," Aikel said as Rotebi dropped out of the trees and walked over to them.

"Why not?" Rotebi asked, with his usually knowing smile.

It took Aikel a moment to think of a response. "Why would you come with us?"

"Why are you going at all?"

"To stop the creatures that have been attacking Felanci, Skyland, and Ranges!" Aikel growled.

"And what makes you think I don't want to stop them?" Rotebi asked. When Aikel only stuttered angrily, he continued, "Felanci is the kind woman who took me in because I didn't have a mother of my own. I want to hurt what hurt her before she's gone for good. But if that's not possible... I want some place else left to go when it's all over. Besides...."

"Besides what?" Aikel asked.

"Where is Yousei?"

Aikel looked over his group of companions, and remembered he hadn't seen Yousei since they returned to Nalya. " Wh... why do you care where Yousei is?"

"She's at home," Kyri said.

Rotebi pointed at Kyri to indicate that she was correct. "And if the look on her face is any indication, she's going to stay there." He was bombarded by blank looks, and he shook his head. "She looks like a caged bird, if you didn't notice. Her mother won't let her out of sight. And if I'm not mistaken--and I could be; I don't know her well--Yousei is good at hearing things she wasn't meant to hear. Yet she wasn't up there eavesdropping with me."

"What's you point?!" Aikel demanded.

"My point is that Yousei is not going with you when you leave," Rotebi said. "Your group is short a very useful warrior. As far as battle skills, Kolkil and I can replace her."

Aikel started to argue about Yousei being a "very useful warrior" but realized he couldn't. He considered arguing Kolkil and Rotebi's strength, but couldn't do that either. He looked back at the others hoping that one of them would come up with an argument, but the only comment came from Himeki.

"Yeah, you can make up for her eavesdropping skills too!" she proclaimed.

"Great!" Rotebi grinned.

"You're not helping..." Aikel grumbled.

"Aikel," Rotebi said, a bit more quietly. "Himeki has been walking through the darkness with a sword in one hand and an infant in the other arm." Himeki frowned in confusion at this. "You're situation isn't so different, so it'd be good to listen to her."

"I don't know what you just said," Aikel retorted, "but I know you only said it because she's agreeing with you."

Rotebi smiled. "So when are we leaving?"

Aikel sighed. "Tomorrow morning."

Chapter 2

Rotebi was correct that Yousei wasn't coming along. When Kyri went to the general store and asked about her, her mother quickly ushered her out.

However Sunny and Puddles arrived that morning and made strange chattering noises at them before they left.

"What are they doing?" Aikel asked.

"Saying goodbye?" Pegasus suggested.

Puddles seemed exited by what Pegasus said, but Sunny knocked her over the head and chided her. They were soon fighting bitterly. Rotebi, fearlessly disregarding the fire and ice that swirled around them, reached forward and pulled them apart.

"Thank you," he told them.

They chattered a bit more and hastily flew back toward the village.

"I think she's a little disgruntled at not being able to come with us," Himeki mused as they walked out of the village.

"I don't know why," Aikel said. "She's safer that way...."

"It's not fun to feel powerless," Gelrini argued.

"Right," Himeki agreed, "and nothing makes you feel powerless like being locked up somewhere when you could be put to good use outside." When no one said anything to continue the conversation, she changed the subject. "Whew, I can't wait to get home. I told that one attendant I was going for a walk, and I haven't been back in... what, two weeks?"

"Long walk," said Pegasus.

Himeki laughed. "Yeah, I hope my parents aren't too mad." She looked down at herself. She gotten to bathe in Nalya, but she hadn't been able to get any new clothes. What she wore now was clean but ripped full of holes from being caught on branches, scraped against rocks, or shredded by orc swords.

"They shouldn't be," Aikel said quietly. His tone made Himeki wish she hadn't spoken.

For the next few hours, they walked without making conversation, save Unicorn occasionally asking Kyri if she was all right, which she always was. One of the three faeries finally broke the silence with a concerned, "Uhh...." He hovered a few inches off the ground and looked off into the trees.

"Don't mind him," Rotebi called from behind the group.

Aikel looked at him irritably. "Where's Kolkil?" he asked.

"He went that way." Rotebi pointed off in the direction the faery happened to be looking.

"Why?" Aikel demanded suspiciously.

"He had to."

"Why?!" Aikel clenched his teeth to keep from screaming.

"He had to," Rotebi answered more clearly, as if he just hadn't been loud enough for Aikel to hear him last time.

Kyri put a hand on Aikel's shoulder to keep him from lunging at Rotebi.

"He did," Rotebi said, nodding, in response to Aikel's scowl.

"Maybe he had to use the bushes," Flenn suggested to Aikel quietly. "That's not something you announce to everyone."

Aikel growled , turned back toward the direction they'd been heading, and stomped onward.

"We plan to scout ahead soon anyway," the faery captain informed him. He nodded, reassured.

After ten more minutes of walking, the captain gestured to one of the others, who transformed to half his current size and flew upward out-of-sight. He wasn't gone five minutes before Gelrini jumped away from the edge of the trail screaming in terror. She collided with Flenn, knocked him over, and hurriedly aimed her crossbow--unloaded--at the black bear that had risen out of the bushes.

"Shut up!" the bear hissed at Gelrini, and everyone else froze in shock with their weapons half-drawn. The bear raised a claw and ripped off its own head, revealing Kolkil's underneath. "You'll have every orc within fifty miles shoving their swords down our throats." He removed the rest of the bearskin and tossed it irritably at Rotebi, who shoved in back in his pack. "And that's a of orcs."

"What?" Aikel asked, pushing his anger at Kolkil and Rotebi aside. "You saw orcs?"

"Yes," Kolkil said. "They are beyond the fork ahead, camped right in the middle largest trail. The one in the center." He looked past Aikel to make eye contact with Himkei and the two remaining faeries. "The one I assume we're supposed to take?"

Himeki nodded. The other faery came back and confirmed this. There was no getting to Alfheimana via the direct route, but the other two trails, which led to two other elven cities, were clear--for now.

"The quickest route to the capital is to take the west trail to Vespacia," Himeki told them, "then go northeast from there."

After weighing the need for haste against predictions of what the orcs would do, it was decided that the trail to Vespacia was indeed the best route. Kolkil occasionally disappeared for a while, but he never said anything when he came back. The faery scout didn't trust Kolkil any more than Kolkil trusted him; he always reported all-clear.

As Vespacia came into view near dusk, Himeki commented, "This city doesn't have a wall around it," as if it had just occurred to her.

"The orcs fight among themselves," the faery scout said. "It's safe for now, but it won't have time to build a wall if the orcs don't go for the capital first."

"Do individual cities have a leader?" the faery captain asked.

"There's a council of people in charge," Himeki said uneasily.

"I will speak to them. Go to the inn."

After convincing each other that nothing could be done for now but gather energy for the next day, they went to the nearest inn. The innkeeper looked them over one person at a time, grew increasingly horrified each time he made eye contact, and screamed at them until they left. The only other inn was insanely expensive to begin with, and though the innkeeper would've allowed them to stay, he raised the price considerably. Himeki haggled him down to close to the original price, and they were able to afford two rooms.

"Show them to their rooms," he sneered at one of the employees. He glared at everyone in the group, particularly Flenn and Rotebi, with disgust. Flenn turned red and made a point of ignoring him, but Rotebi seemed to have spaced out through the whole demeaning conversation and didn't notice this insult either.

The young man looked genuinely uncomfortable, but he forced a smile and bowed at the group. "This way, ma'am," he said to Himeki. He didn't sound the slightest bit sarcastic. Himeki smiled at him--she didn't look surprised, only pleased--but that only made him blush and look more uncomfortable.

The second half of each room consisted of a large bath and the title around it. Himeki, Kyri, Unicorn, Gelrini, and the female faery warrior named Zaika shared the first room, and Himeki learned that neither humans, centaurs, nor faeries are accustomed to bathing together. She laughed to herself and got in the only unoccupied corner of the bath. She was also the first out of the bath, the others being too embarrassed to move. She dressed herself in her ragged clothing.

There was a knock at the door. Holding in a laugh at the sight of her roommates' horrified expressions, Himeki drew a curtain across the room to block the bath area from sight and went to answer it.

"Oh, we didn't order any food," Himeki told the young man at the door, the same one who'd led them to their rooms.

"Shhh." He smiled as he drummed the handle of the food-laden cart with his fingers. "It's supposed to be included at the price you paid. Master must've made an oversight."

Himeki laughed. "Why, thank you," she said. "But won't you get in trouble if you get caught?"

He shrugged. "He might fire me, but I'm quitting anyway."

"Oh? Why is that?" Himeki shut the door to the room.

"My family is moving to Alfheimana. We're leaving tomorrow morning."

"Oh," Himeki repeated, mumbling this time. "Be careful. There are dark creatures around."

"Yeah." He nodded, then sighed. "But we just can't stand it here anymore. Alfheimana is safer against them anyway."

"That's true...."

"I'll leave this for you and your friends," he said, indicating the cart. "Summon me if you need anything else." He departed hastily.

Himeki knocked on the other door, told Aikel about the food when he answered, and then took some of it back into her own room.

Gelrini asking, " Kyri? Are you all right?" was the first thing Himeki heard upon entering. She sat the plates down on the first bed and hurried over to the second.

"What's wrong?" she demanded of them. They were all dressed now. Kyri was on her knees leaning over the side of the bed. Unicorn was an inch away, as if wanting to press close to her but afraid touching her might cause her harm. Gerini was backing away, looking panicked. Zaika, while looking calm and in control, obviously had no idea what was wrong or what to do.

Himeki sighed in frustration. She put her knee up on the other side of the bed and said sternly, "Kyri. Answer me. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Kyri said, her voice soft and muffle further by the bedcovers. She raised her head and revealed the flush that Himeki, with a pang of guilt, recalled having seen all day. "I'm fine," Kyri mumbled. Her head collapsed back onto the bed.

Himeki helped Kyri into bed, left the room, and returned with some of the others. Aikel had his face in his hands and looked ready to go insane.

"Even if a good night's rest helps her a lot," he ranted, "she still won't be ready to travel in the morning! We can't stay here! We can't leave her here!"

No one noticed Himeki slip out. Glancing around, she quickly made eye contact with the elf who had brought the cart of food. He nodded, and when he was finished with what he was doing, he came over.

"What do you need?" he asked.

"You said your family is leaving for Alfheimana tomorrow morning?" she asked.

"Y-yes," he answered, taken by surprise.

"Will you have a wagon or something to carry your belongings in?"

"Yes. We have two horses to pull it." He nodded. "Why do you ask?"

Himeki stopped herself from biting her lip and stood up straighter. "We were going to leave for Alfheimana tomorrow too, but my friend is sick. She's probably not going to be able to walk by tomorrow, I... I was wondering if we could go along with you."

"Of course, we wouldn't mind at all!"

"Are you sure your family won't mind being followed around by faeries, humans, half-humans, and a centaur?" Himeki asked worriedly, thinking he might've forgotten the kind of company she kept.

"Ehh... you're right, I'll have to ask my family to make sure." He smiled. "But I'm sure they still won't mind."

"Don't forget the orcs. Having ten grateful warriors follow you around would be handy, right?"

Chapter 3

Later Himeki felt guilty for not learning the young man's name earlier; it was Elussid. His parents, after battling their instinct and "good sense" against their morals and common sense and having the latter come out victorious, agreed to carry the sick human girl in the back of their wagon.

Rotebi nearly wrecked the whole arrangement. When Elussid's baby sister started crying, Rotebi hurried over to tap her nose and make cutesy sounds at her, much to the horror of the mother, who held the child in her lap. But the child not only ceased to cry but began to giggle. Rotebi maintained a more respectful distance, and everyone relaxed.

After looking everyone else over, Aikel slowed his pace long enough to fall back with Flenn in the rear of the group.

"What?" Flenn asked after a few seconds.

"Hmm?" Aikel mumbled. "I didn't say anything."

Flenn rolled his eyes.

"So what's wrong?" Aikel asked.

"Nothing."

"Hmm."

"Well, I feel like... like...." Flenn growled in frustration. When Aikel only looked at him, waiting for him to continue, he said, " Alfheimana.... This is what I always imagined walking into a dragon's lair would be like."

Aikel nodded slowly. "I have confidence that Himeki can keep you safe, only because she seems pretty confident about it. Maybe we should ask though, if it'd be better for you to stay outside? You'd have Rotebi to keep you company."

Flenn snickered. "Gee, Rotebi. That's comforting." He shook his head and said more quietly, "What's up with that guy, anyway?"

Aikel shrugged. "I haven't known him any longer than you have."

"He seems a little off his rocker. Now that I think about it, Kolkil's just as bad; he's just less silly about it."

"Yeah. I don't... really know if I trust them. It's hard to imagine Rotebi being in any way treacherous, but Kolkil might as well have it written on his forehead that he's hiding something."

Flenn nodded. "Chances are, though, that they both just spent a little too much time in the sun one day."

Aikel agreed.

Flenn only sighed, having nothing else to say. Himeki talked with Elussid about the state of their country. Kyri eventually woke up and sat groggily in the cart while Unicorn told her what was going on. Other than that, everyone was silent. None of the faeries ever said anything.

"The gates'll be in sight soon," Himeki announced. "We don't want to cause you trouble with the guards, so you can go on ahead without us now."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Elussid's mother asked worriedly.

"Yes, ma'am," Kyri said. "I'm feeling better now." She climbed out of the cart.

"Thank you for your help," Himeki told them. They waved as they rolled off. Himeki turned back to her comrades. "We're not going to go through the front gates, so follow me." The faeries frowned uncomfortably; sneaking into another country's capital was not good for diplomatic relations.

Himeki led everyone through the brush. The gates--they were closed this time--came in view, but the guards in front wouldn't be able to see them with all the bushes in the way. After several minutes of walking down the western side of the wall, Himeki stopped. She knocked in a specific pattern, like a code. She waited, rocking back on her heels. Then she proceeded to bang on the wall impatiently.

"Uh... who's there?" came a muffled voice through the wall.

"What do you mean, 'who's there'?!" Himeki shouted back. "Who else would be out here at a time like this?"

"Orcs?" a second voice through the wall asked.

"Do orcs know about this door?" Himeki called.

"That's Himeki, you idiot!" the first voice asked.

"Himeki?! Really?!" the second asked in disbelief.

"No, I'm an orc," Himeki muttered. "Open up already!"

Silence, then the first voice called, "Go through the front gates."

"What?"

"Go through the front gates!"

"Why?" Himeki demanded.

"We've got this hole boarded up to keep the monsters out."

"Well, I'm not a monster, but I can't go through the front, so unboard it!"

"What? Why can't you go through the front?" the second voice asked.

"You should be able to guess one of the reasons, you dunce," Himeki complained.

The two people beyond the wall seemed to be conversing quietly. Then the second said, "C'mon, Himeki, these are magically reinforced nails! I'd have to cast the spell all over to put them back!"

"Jeez, it figures you guys would let me down when I needed you most!" Himeki yelled. "Fine! Be that way!"

"No! No, wait!" the first voice said. "We'll open it! Jeez, go get a hammer or something, Fluet."

A few minutes later, a three-foot square pushed out from the bottom section of the wall, and opened upward. Himeki crouched down and looked inside.

"Thanks, guys, I owe you," she said gratefully. She looked over her shoulder. "Come in, everyone." She crawled through the opening.

"Everyone?" the second voice asked. "Holy crap," he swore as Himeki finished crawling through the six-foot wooden tunnel and stood up. "What happened to ?! You look like you got chewed up by something."

"I did," Himeki laughed as Aikel came out of the tunnel. He looked up at the shocked faces of the two elves he didn't know as he stood and got up.

"Is that what you've been doing all this time?" the younger elf, the owner of the first voice, demanded. "Gathering a freak show?!"

"Hey, do you want to keep that tongue of yours?" Himeki asked, grinning as she grabbed the boy by his shirt collar. The older elf looked more and more worried as everyone came into the room. Gelrini needed help getting through.

"Seriously, Himeki, do you want to get us hung?!"

"Don't worry, by the time anyone knows they're in the city, they'll be in the castle, and I'll be the one who has to answer for them."

"The castle?! Hell, you stupid girl, gonna be hung!"

Himeki laughed. "If they could hang me, they'd probably have done it a long time ago!" She addressed the others, "This is Fluet..." She indicated the older elf. "...and Mrawly." The younger. "They run a woodcraft shop in the back corner of the city where nobody comes to buy things."

Fluet rolled his eyes.

"I hate to leave so soon, but we're in a hurry," Himeki said. "We'll go out the other back door."

"Be careful," Mrawly said with a sigh.

Himeki led everyone into the alley behind the store.

"What's that door for, Himeki?" Kyri asked conversationally as they walked north.

"That's what my friends and I use when we want to dodge the guards to get out of the city."

Aikel laughed. "You have to dodge guards a lot?"

"Well, no one's supposed to be out at night." After rounding the northeast-corner of the castle, Himeki picked the lock on a small door and looked inside cautiously. The kitchen was empty. "Hurry, before the cooks come back." They exited into the hallway and went up a nearby spiral staircase. She opened a set of double doors and ushered everyone in ahead of her. "You guys hang out here for awhile. I'm going to go get the king."

She was gone before anyone said anything. Aikel looked around at the room uncomfortably. It was a very large bedroom without many furnishings, but those furnishings it had were elaborate. The end of the room closer to the door had a round table and some stools on which the others sat. Not wanted to get the fancy bed dirty, Aikel settled himself on the floor next to Flenn.

* * *

"Why do I feel like I am weakening?" he demanded to the wind as he slouched against the tree trunk.

"Because the rest of the world is growing stronger."

style='font-style:Wealden style='font-style: whirled around to confront the unexpected speaker, and his eyes widened in disbelief. She was just hoisting herself up onto a branch equal to his in height.

"The rest of the world is growing stronger," Himeki repeated as she arranged herself comfortably on the branch and looked out over the city, "and we can grow stronger too. We can keep up because we can grow together--" She took his hand. "--for you are my king and I am your princess. I must be strong so that I may rule in your place someday, you must be strong so that that day does not come soon, and our nation must be strong so that we can uphold all we have ever stood for. The blood of the great Arxedia flows in our veins, and although we have seen failure, we have never known true defeat." She twisted as to look at him for the first time since she'd sat down. "And we never will."

"Y-yes..." Wealden said quietly, recognizing a lot of what she said as variations of quotes from Arxedia's scripture. He squeezed her hand and said with a louder voice, "You're right."

Himeki looked away again, and waited a few seconds before she spoke again. "I... may be far younger than you and thus far less wise than you... but my seventeen years have granted me some wisdom, and I use it to the best of my ability."

Wealden , sensing that she was troubled, turned backed to her and listened intently.

"I have made many mistakes in my life, especially in the last two weeks," Himeki said. "Maybe my decisions of to fight or when to fight were wrong, but I stand by my decision to fight."

Wealden looked down at the grass far below.

"I talked to Mother a few minutes ago, and she filled me in on what's been happening... from the elven point of view. It was exactly what the outsiders say about us except that it was filled with a lot of bad excuses. Basically, we're hiding in a shelter that humans and faeries are guarding, except--" She spoke mockingly. "--we 'didn't ask them to protect us,' and 'if we hide long enough the meanies will go away.'" She sighed and spoke normally. "I'm ashamed."

"I was worried about you," Wealden argued. "I didn't want to anger the enemy while you were missing, because if they had captured you...."

"Yeah, that's why they tried to capture me," Himeki snapped, "because they knew they could use me against you!"

Wealden sighed.

"Well, I'm back now. Can we go back to standing up for ourselves, please?"

"And I suppose you have some kind of idea, Miss Warmonger?"

"Nope, don't need one," Himeki said. "The faeries already provided the ideas; we just have to play our part. The morning I left, two humans and a sprite came to the city. They mentioned to me that they were on diplomatic business. Did you meet with them?"

"Yes. They delivered a message to me from the faery queen asking for military reinforcement. At the time, I said yes, but I sent another message saying we couldn't help."

"But the two humans," Himeki reminded. "They have the particular bloodline necessary to use a kind of magic that can effectively fight the enemy at its source--whatever that source is." Wealden's eyes widened. "But there're still the armies of orcs in their way. Without military support, they have nothing." Himeki swung down from the branch.

"Hey, where are you going?" Wealden asked.

"We're going to go talk to them. Come on!"

* * *

 

Gelrini scampered out of the way as the door opened. Everyone stood up or stiffened at the sight of the blond elven man who stopped on his way in to gape at Gelrini. Himeki, behind him, urged him to continue.

"All right," Himeki began. "This is Aikel and Kyri, if you forgot them, along with Pegasus and Unicorn." Aikel and Kyri bowed hesitantly. This is Gelrini--"

"Hello!"

"--Kokil, Rotebi, and Flenn."

The king's eyes swept over them. He must not have noticed Rotebi well, but his eyes stopped on Flenn and widened. He looked back at Himeki with indignant disbelief. "Half-human?"

Both Himeki and Aikel both started to respond angrily, but they stopped upon hearing Flenn's deep intake up breath, like he was about to speak. He kept a straight face and said with a calm, polite voice, "Yes, I'm a half-human. Is that a problem?"

"I am too," Rotebi said.

"No..." the king said to Flenn somewhat hesitantly.

"Captain," Himeki said to the leader of the faeries, "since I don't know you personally, I'll let you introduce yourselves."

"We are here on behalf of Her Majesty, Queen Saraelye, Ruler of the Faery Realms," the faery captain said to the king. "I am Captain Yelseth." The faeries bowed together.

"And this is my father, King of the Elven Kingdom," Himeki finished. Several of the people she'd led here gaped at her, but she continued, "Before anyone says anything else... Aikel, do you remember the man who was leading the army of goblins against the human city of Mabiss in Felanci?"

After a moment of thought, Aikel nodded uneasily.

"Can you describe what he looked like?"

"I, uh, I think he was an elf, but I've never been good at telling races apart," Aikel said, trying not to fidget. "He had pretty average stature for an elf. He wore dark clothes that were loose like most magic users wear. He was pale and had somewhat long hair that was black with a white stripe."

"Do you remember his name?" Himeki asked.

"Ahr..." Aikel began. "Ahr-something. I don't remember."

"Ahrimel," Himeki supplied.

"What?" the king demanded.

"Oh, that's right," Aikel realized.

The king looked at Himeki in confusion, and she laughed bitterly. "Yeah, that's right! Even if we don't know why or how, at least now we know what happened to our dear Lord Ahrimel after he went missing a few months ago!"

"This is a... sick joke..." the king muttered, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Too sick to be a joke," Himeki said. "I never liked him, but I wouldn't make a joke like that. But since that's all we know about Ahrimel so far, there's no point in talking about it anymore and we can get on with other things. Your Majesty, allow Captain Yelseth to explain the situation."

"At the command of Warder Prithvi, in the name of Queen Saraelye," the captain said, "we have been fighting the enemy since their attacks on Felanci began. However, our numbers are far too few. We need the elves to offer military support as well as handle the diplomatic relations with the humans, so we can have their military support as well. We also need a ship to take Aikel and Kyri far to the north so they can gather more of their magic from the Temple of Ice."

"That should be feasible," the king said. "Our ships are currently forbidden to sail, to protect them, but I can send one out easily."

"Great," Himeki said. "Now we just need to smooth out the details a little more...."

* * *

The faeries came to an agreement with the king. Everyone spent the night in the castle, and Kyri had been given some medical treatment that made her wake up looking as healthy as ever. That morning, they gathered in the empty throne room before departing. Himeki arrive belatedly, wearing a new set of brown and light-green clothing and holding a short bow in one hand.

"Great, it's time to go!" she cheered, punching Aikel's shoulder. "We're headed Deyra to the northeast and--"

"No."

"Huh?" Himeki asked. Everyone looked over at Wealden as he entered and came over.

"No, you're not going," he said.

"What?!" Himeki demanded. "They can't afford to be short another warrior!"

"Too bad," Wealden snapped. "I'm offering my armies, my land, my ships, and possibly eventually my citizens. They aren't getting my daughter too."

Himeki growled in anger and narrowed her eyes, but Wealden didn't waver. "At least let me escort them to Deyra!"

"No, they'll be safe enough without your help."

"It's not about safety. It's about courtesy!"

"Courtesy is a luxury which has no place in dire times like this."

Teeth and fists both clenched, Himeki muttered, "Then I'll only see them to the city gates."

"That's fine," Wealden said, "as long as you leave your weapons behind."

Himeki's eyes flashed with anger, but Wealden was still unaffected. She exhaled slowly and calmed herself. "All right. Here." She handed him her bow and turned toward the door.

He cleared his throat. " All your weapons, Himeki."

She stomped back, took her whip off her waist and her dagger out of her right boot, and handed them over. She started towards the door again, but he reached out, grabbed her ponytail, and pulled her back. She stood there, her face turning red, as he pulled a smaller knife out of her left boot, a knife with a foldable blade from her shirt, a spiked leather band out of her hair, and various other seemingly innocent but potentially dangerous objects out of places that didn't seem capable of hiding them. They rained down on the green carpet.

"You may go now," Wealden said.

Without speaking or looking at him, Himeki kicked through the debris and left. The others followed hesitantly.

Chapter 4

Flenn walked unsteadily to where Aikel was leaning glumly against the railing. "What are you doing over here?" he asked.

"Just thinking about how much I hate ships," Aikel grumped.

"Don't blame ya," Flenn mumbled. "How can you look down there without getting sick?"

"Eh," Aikel mumbled back, shrugging one shoulder.

Pegasus bounced over. "Are we there yet?" he demanded.

"This is just a short trip across the Cloven Strait," Aikel said. "If you're this impatient now, what are you going to do when we have to go all the way to the north part of the world?"

"What's it like there?" Rotebi asked from behind, startling them. "I heard it's cold. Colder than here?"

"It's late spring in the middle of a hot spell," Flenn muttered. "It doesn't take much to be colder than here."

"Prithvi said it would be snowing," Aikel said.

Rotebi flinched, and his eyes widened.

"Er... are you okay?" Aikel asked.

"Sn-nnn...." Whatever Rotebi was going to say didn't come out right. "D-do you think the elves who will be going to talk to the Valley humans will need any help with anything? Maybe I--er, Kolkil and I-- should go with them, if you don't mind too terribly much."

"Well, I can't stop you, but--" Aikel began.

"Thanks!" Rotebi whimpered and quickly retreated to another part of the ship.

Aikel, Flenn, and Pegasus stared in the direction he'd left.

"Hmph. Weirdo," Flenn commented.

"What was that about?" Pegasus wondered.

"He turned awfully white," said Aikel. "I thought he was going to pass out or something."

"There's something wrong with him if he wants to hang out with those elves more than he has to," Flenn said quietly, glancing around to make sure no elves were close enough to hear. He saw Aikel frowning. "What's wrong? Did you want them to come with us?"

"Well, I kind of wanted to send Gelrini to Valley, hoping she'd be in less danger," Aikel said, "but you remember how we talked about not being able to trust these guys." After a moment of thought, he asked, "Will you go with them?"

"What?!" Flenn demanded. "You're joking, right?"

"Come on, please," Aikel said, standing up. "Gelrini may be tough enough to defend herself in a fight, but she's still just a little girl. She's going to be way too trusting of them. The elves are going to distrust them for no good reason. I need somebody to go who'll put some logical thought into them."

Flenn sighed. "Fine."

"Thanks, Flenn."

They reached the port at Paden. The elves were visibly annoyed by the extra people accompanying them, but they didn't complain too loudly.

"Just make sure you come back in one piece," Flenn said darkly to Aikel when they parted at the dock.

"Don't worry," Aikel said. He walked back onto the deck and took his usual place at the rail.

* * *

The three dragons circled the rocky land patiently, their blue scales glittering like ice in the pale sun. To the north, there was snow and a forest that offered shelter to their prey. To the south, there was a thinly iced lake that attracted the prey. Between was a vast plain of rock that was free of ice due to the sun's heat radiating off the stone surface. It was mostly flat, but there were erosion-caused groves and strewn boulders that served only to hinder the prey, not offer hiding.

The dragons had only to wait for the prey to try to cross the rocky land. None had ever made it all the way across unless the dragons had full bellies or were hunting elsewhere.

There! A bolt of brown burst from a hiding place near the lake and began speeding across the stone plain. The first dragon dove, but the prey dodged behind a small boulder at the last moment, and the dragon lost its momentum as it got a claw full of stone. So it continued for a long time, the prey somehow narrowly missing the talons each time a dragon struck.

Finally it snarled in fury as one dragon landed on it awkwardly, pinning it to the stone with a foot but not harming it yet. A second dragon landed and reached for it, but the first dragon snapped its teeth angrily. The prey was too small to be more than a modest meal for a single dragon. The two began to bicker, and the first dragon was thrown off balance enough for the prey to scramble free.

The third dragon sailed over the first two to continue pursuit. The prey jumped back just as the dragon was going to strike, causing the dragon to slam into a boulder. The prey sprang onto and over the dragon before the dragon managed to take flight again.

The prey had passed the first tree. As much out of pride as hunger, the dragon continued to fly low after it, but it had to stop and land, because the trees became too close together. It couldn't even the prey now, as the little creature had gotten lost among the icy plants. The dragon grunted in frustration and started to step backwards. Then it roared in pain as something from above sunk into its right eye.

With its left eye, it saw the prey jump out of a tree and land next to a pile of ten spears. Before its vision faded due to lightheadedness, the last thing the dragon saw was the prey's fangs bared in a triumphant smile as it raised another spear to throw.

Chapter 5

Aikel clenched his teeth together to keep them from clattering as he surveyed the white landscape. He was wrapped tightly in fur and was still freezing. He wondered how he'd manage to fight if he had to.

The ship was docked at a crumbling stone pier surrounded by snow and ice-covered water. They weren't leaving now because it was still night and they were hoping the sun would bring a little warmth. It had been dark for quite some time though, and they wanted an early start. Aikel went back below deck and trusted the elven captain to wake him up at sunrise.

Sunrise didn't come as early as Aikel expected, but he was grateful for the extra rest. He, Kyri, Pegasus, and Unicorn set out into the snow, heading north. Before long, the ship was no longer visible behind them, and featureless snow dunes filled their view on all sides.

Kyri stopped and sighed, creating a great puff of steam in front of her. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"We agreed to go north, and we've been going north this whole time," Aikel said irritably. He double checked the compass, and it still indicated that they were facing north. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the vague remnants of their footprints were in a relatively straight line.

"I think we're going the right way," Pegasus offered.

"You 'think'?" Aikel asked. "When we left the ship, you were positive."

"We're going the right way," Unicorn piped up. "I felt the magical energy to the north. I still feel it to the north. It has gotten stronger since we set out."

"Same here," said Pegasus. "I just didn't expect it to be so far or that it would take you two so long to walk through this white stuff."

"Come on." Aikel tromped onward.

Kyri fell into step behind him. "The sun is setting? Have we really been out hear this long?"

"What?" Aikel looked west. "Wow, the sun is setting," he said incredulously. After a few minutes he took a torch from his pack and struggled to light it and keep it lit in the blowing snow.

"I smell something," Pegasus said suddenly. "Let me fly up and see what it is." Once Aikel released him, he disappeared into the mist.

"Aikel asked, "What does the Frost Orb smell like?"

"Probably not similar to a dragon like what Pegasus is referring to," Unicorn said.

Aikel groaned. "Dragon?"

Pegasus was just returning. "It's not a dragon," he said, "but I can't tell what it is. It's behind us and moving a little faster, so it'll catch up eventually. No point in waiting for it though. I'll let you know when it starts to get a little too close."

When Pegasus stopped them a few minutes later, they looked back at the snow drift behind them. A shadow was just coming to the top of it. It didn't have a light, so Aikel raised his torch to get a better look, but it was too far away to make a difference.

"Smells like blood," Unicorn informed darkly, making a face.

The shadow, which didn't have a very human-like shape, seemed to be studying them, so Aikel slowly took out his sword. Suddenly it shouted something. Aikel and Kyri looked at each other to confirm that neither of them had understood the words. After a pause, the shadow shouted the same thing again and waited for them to answer.

After a longer pause, it finally called out, "Who are you?" It was pronounced clumsily, with a space between each word, and with an accent.

Startled, Aikel still took a few seconds to speak. "We're Aikel and Kyri. We're... from the south."

After a moment of apparent consideration, the shadow stooped down and began to lumber forward. It stopped halfway to where Aikel and Kyri stood and asked, "Why are you here?"

"We're looking for something," Aikel said. Now that the figure was closer, he could tell it was reddish, and the fire glinted off it as if it were wet or slimy. Its glowing eyes narrowed as if it were frowning, so Aikel guessed his answer wasn't sufficient. "It's a very old magical object that's supposed to be in this part of the world," he added. "It's very important that we find it."

The shadow gave some short answer that couldn't be heard over the distance and sound of the breeze.

"I'm sorry," Aikel said. "It's hard to hear you."

"May I come closer?" the shape asked.

"Um, yes," said Aikel. When Kyri struck him with her elbow, he realized he was still holding his sword. He sheathed it quickly, and the shadow advanced to a comfortable speaking distance. Its shape had been distorted by the large slabs of raw meat that were tied on ropes and draped over its shoulders; in better lighting, it seemed to be a relatively small and thin creature. It was pulling a small, crude sled piled high with more meat. It was still hard to see clearly, so Aikel decided based on its voice, not appearance, that it must be female.

"I apologize for the smell; I do work as a hunter," she said. "My name is Lataci." Her attempt at a bow was made difficult by all that she was carrying.

"It's nice to meet you," Kyri said.

"Do you know of a very old temple in this area?" Aikel asked.

"Temple?" Lataci frowned in thought. Perhaps it was the blood or the awkward shadows cast by the torch, but her face didn't appear quite human. "How old?"

"Um, more than nine hundred years."

"Heh. I know of no temple that old." She looked Aikel and Kyri over. "You are not accustomed to snow."

"No," Kyri said quietly.

"And you do not know where to go."

Aikel sighed, embarrassed. "Well... we have a general idea."

"But maybe you should follow me. Maybe one of my comrades will know of what you seek."

Kyri glanced at Aikel to make sure he wouldn't object and said, "Thank you."

Lataci's route was roughly the same direction they were going to go anyway, and they were able to move faster by going through the blood-stained broken snow in her wake. Before long, they could see a well-lit group of round buildings in an area cleared of deep snow. When they came closer, Lataci stopped hesitantly. There was no one in sight, but when a shriek and some other commotion came from beyond some of the buildings, Lataci dropped what she was carrying into the snow and bound forward on all fours.

"Lataci?" Kyri asked too quietly to be heard. She followed when Aikel and Pegasus hurried forward.

The open area in the middle of the village was packed. The fur-covered people with earth-colored clothes and bright ornaments were on one side; the goblins were on the other. A tall black-robed man stood in the middle holding a white-furred creature up by the neck. Lataci pounced at him, but he knocked her away. The way he turned made his face visible.

"You­ again?!" Aikel demanded.

Ahrimel smiled. He had been about to strike the creature he was holding with a ball of dark energy, but he threw it at Aikel instead. A bright light from the orbs on Aikel's chest flared up to slow the dark magic down, but he was knocked back.

"Aikel!" Kyri called worriedly, backing toward where he had landed. Pegasus and Unicorn transformed to their highest forms and moved to form a wall in front of Aikel until he stood back up.

Ahrimel spoke to the creature he was holding in a strange language and was answered with a snarl. He started to strike her as before, but Aikel lunged and threw himself between her and the magic. The two of them were thrown into the group of other furred creatures. Aikel, his vision filled with colored dots, had just enough energy to roll off of her.

Ahrimel growled as Lataci threw herself at him. He knocked her away, but not without receiving slash marks across his face and chest first. He found himself surrounded by Kyri, Pegasus, and Unicorn. After a moment of indecision, he barged past Kyri and retreated to the small group of goblins who had been watching the display without interest. They disappeared around the buildings with him before anyone could stop him.

Aikel stood up shakily, and Kyri took him by the arm to heal him. As her magic took effect, he became more aware of the white creature in front of him bowing with gratitude. She was shaped more or less like a human of small stature, though she had a more graceful way of standing. She was covered in white fur with spots and had a face that looked a little like a cat's. Her flaxen hair was filled with beads and braids and was long enough to touch the base of her long tail. She was spouting gibberish between gasps for breath.

"I..." Aikel tried to break in. "I don't understand a word you're saying."

The white-furred girl stopped and stared at him. Her companions were equally dumbfounded. They had a variety of fur patterns, but they generally looked comparable to her. Aikel guessed that Lataci looked like them when she was clean.

"Lataci?" Aikel called helplessly, hoping she would act as a translator.

"Lataci?" the white-furred girl demanded. She asked something else, and Lataci's name was all Aikel caught. She started to follow the blood trail that marked where Lataci had gone, but Lataci appeared again, carrying all her meat.

Those who had hidden in the buildings while Ahrimel was present now crept out and joined the other furred people who rushed to crowd around her, many shouting out questions. She answered them one at a time, calmly and quietly, paying no heed when an answer only made them more excited. She moved through the crowd an inch at a time until she was near Aikel and Kyri.

She started to speak, but the white-furred girl spoke instead. When Lataci looked at her with anger and mild surprised, she mumbled questioningly. Lataci shook her head and ignored her.

"You are tired, yes?" she said to Aikel and Kyri. "Would you like to stay here in this village?"

"Thank you," Kyri said.

"Thank you for saving my...." Lataci frowned, as if trying to think of the right word. "Thank you for saving Haukea and the others."

She dragged the white-furred girl over, and despite her protests, draped the strings of meat over her, gave her an order, and pushed her off. Someone else took the sled and went in the same direction. She gestured for Aikel and Kyri to follow her and brought them to a house near the center of the village.

"You may stay here," Lataci said. "I will have things brought to you."

"Thank you," Kyri repeated.

"Why can you speak our language when the others can't?" Aikel asked.

"I do work as a merchant," said Lataci. "I have more opportunity to speak with people from the south." She bowed and left.

"What are these people called, Pegasus?" Aikel asked.

"Leoths," said Pegasus. "Or sometimes called leothera ."

"I figured they were extinct by now," Unicorn mused, "since I hadn't seen any yet."

"They certainly aren't as widespread as they used to be. Is this little village all that's left?"

A male leoth came in and dropped some fur pelts. He was apparently a merchant too, because he said, "We eat at village plaza. Come please."

"Aww, great, back outside," Aikel mumbled.

They returned to the plaza, where there was now a large fire with meat cooking over it. A brown- and tawny-furred leoth approached, followed by a fast-talking Haukea. "I would like to discuss with you," said said, and Aikel recognized her as Lataci sans blood. Her fur was damp and uncombed, and she smelled of salt water.

People were setting up wooden benches, so they found one and sat there. Haukea sat on the opposite side of the group as Lataci, forcing them to sit closer. Lataci frowned at her.

"The elf man who was here before," Lataci began. "You know him?"

"We've had to deal with him before, yes," Aikel answered.

"So he is your enemy?"

"Yes."

"Do you know why he was here?"

Aikel considered. "I'm guessing it's for the same reason we're here. If it's not that, I have no idea."

"They've attacked villages before to capture people as slaves," Kyri offered. "Those were centaurs."

"Haukea tells me of what happened before we arrived," Lataci said. "The sorcerer was demanding information on the location of something. It seems a lot like what you described to me. Haukea knew nothing about it."

Aikel nodded gravely. Someone came by to pass out pieces of meat on woven wicker squares. "What kind of meat is this?" he asked worriedly.

"Ice dragon."

"Ice dragon?" Aikel demanded. "You eat dragons regularly?"

Lataci smiled, baring her fangs. "Dragons eat us regularly." She frowned as Haukea began to eat. "Someone who was taking shelter while the sorcerer was here tells me he does know of... what was once a temple." She sighed. "I didn't think that could be a temple. It's a very unholy place."

"Unholy..." Kyri mumbled.

"That sounds right," Aikel said.

"This is not our first conflict with sorcerers and their goblins," Lataci said. "Before, they were weaker. We fought them back with minimal casualties, especially because Haukea has a strange resistance to their magic. But she is not strong like you. We would like to give you aid against them."

"We would appreciate that a lot," Aikel said. He glanced at Haukea, curious as to why she was strong against magic. She was slouched disinterestedly, fidgeting with her jewelry.

"At the least," Lataci went on, "you will have a place to stay, provisions, and directions to the... temple. And...." She sighed. "I may also provide a guide to lead you there. Though... are you sure you want to go there? Not many people have come back from that place."

"We have to," Aikel said. "It's important for fighting those sorcerers and their minions."

Lataci nodded. "Would you like to leave in the morning?"

Aikel looked at Kyri, who nodded. "Yes."

"I see. Eat and relax for now." Lataci frowned at the vacant place where Haukea had been sitting. "I have some things to attend to. Please excuse me."

Once she was gone, Aikel looked down at his food. "Dragon meat?"

Kyri shrugged and nibbled at it.

Chapter 6

As Aikel, Kyri, Pegasus, and Unicorn came shivering out of their borrowed house the next morning, Lataci handed Aikel a leather pack.

"This contains food, bandages, and medicine," she explained. "I will go with you."

"You?" Aikel asked. "You said yourself it's dangerous. You could die."

Lataci started to respond, but then she stopped as if she realized something that shocked her. She then failed to stifle a laugh. "I... I apologize." She cleared her throat and composed herself. "I realize the danger, and I am willing to take that risk."

Haukea jogged up to join them and stared at the ground silently. She had a spear in one hand and wasn't wearing any jewelry except one pendant on a gold chain that she had tucked into her shirt.

"Come," said Lataci, turning northward. She led them out of them village and tirelessly through the snow, while Haukea took up the rear.

Aikel tried to force his teeth to stop chattering long enough to speak to Pegasus, Kyri, and Unicorn. "Do you guys have any ideas to help us beat whoever we'll have to fight? I'm going to have trouble fighting like this."

"Mistice is her name," Pegasus remembered. "She was an elf.... Who knows what she is ."

"I always thought she was a little... unstable," Unicorn mumbled.

"Maybe since Lataci knows the way to the temple, she also knows something about Mistice?" Kyri suggested.

"Lataci," Aikel called over the breeze. "Do you know of an unusual person who lives at the temple?"

"Person?" Lataci demanded incredulously.

"Er... liberally speaking...."

"It looks like a dragon," Lataci said. She was suddenly more forceful about pushing the snow out of her way. "It fights a lot like one of my people, but it has scales and wings."

"With a spear?" Aikel asked.

"No." Lataci looked over her shoulder at him and held her hand up. Claws slid from her fingertips.

"How about magic?"

"None that I've seen, but it controls the dragons."

"Dragons?" Aikel sighed. "How many?"

"Not more than fifty."

"F-f-fif-fifty...?"

"Maybe she doesn't know how to count in our language?" Kyri asked hopefully.

Aikel spotted something gray among the white, and when they were closer, he saw it was the first of many stone pillars. There were two long rows of them forming a passageway to a large stone dais. Most of the pillars were knocked over or broken.

Lataci stopped where the pillars began. "This is the beginning of the monster's domain. It will not go past this spot, though the dragons might. I see no dragons now though. Perhaps they are away hunting."

"Thanks," Aikel said. "You can wait here or go back."

"If you're fighting the creature I described to you," Lataci said, "my whole reason for coming was to help you fight it."

"Thank you," Aikel mumbled, "but... are you sure?" He looked over his shoulder at Haukea. "Her too?"

"Well..."

Haukea suddenly shouted and ducked, and the others ducked out or reflex. A dragon was swooping down to land just to the right of the dais. It hadn't spotted them.

"Since it's all alone, could there be a way to sneak up on it?" Aikel asked helplessly.

"Even if it faced away, it would see any of us easily from the corner of its vision," Lataci said, shaking her head slowly. "We show up very well against the snow."

Haukea asked a question, and Lataci looked at her with exasperation. They spoke back and forth calmly, but Aikel had a feeling they were arguing.

Finally, when it was Lataci's turn to speak again, she turned to Aikel and Kyri instead. "Come. When we are closer, Haukea will attempt to attack the dragon." Haukea's white fur and white clothing did not show up very well against the snow.

They continued two-thirds of the way down the pillar-bordered path. Lataci stopped next to a pillar that was smeared with dried blood. She touched the stain and spoke to Haukea.

Haukea handed Lataci her spear, left the path, and moved on her belly toward the dragon. Just as she came close, another dragon appeared over the mountain top, so she dashed for cover under the wing of the first dragon, which had apparently fallen asleep. Once the second dragon was settled, Haukea peeked out from under the wing and made hand signals to Lataci, who frowned and signaled back.

"Is she saying something?" Kyri asked.

"I cannot understand from here," Lataci grumbled.

Haukea gave up trying to signal. She moved toward the second dragon, which was looking away. She took out a long knife and jumped to slash the dragon's throat. It spotted her at the last second. The wound she gave it prevented it from roaring, but it attempted to attack. The snow was knocked into the air by its movement. When the dragon finally went limp and the snow settled, Haukea, splattered by dragon blood, stood back up.

Aikel noted that Lataci began to breathe again.

The sleeping dragon had stirred but not awakened, and Haukea dealt with it without incident. Lataci advanced toward the dais with Aikel and Kyri behind her as Haukea hopped up onto it from the side.

A small and vaguely human-like shape sat on its haunches, carefully balanced on a fully intact pillar on the far corner of the dais. The way she gazed lazily at Haukea suggested that she had watched the death of the two dragons. She jumped down and landed on the stone pedestal in the center of the dais, one foot landing on the shining blue orb that rested there.

"That's it," Lataci said quietly.

Haukea side-stepped over to the rest of the group, not taking her eyes off Mistice. Lataci handed the spear back to her with a shaking hand. Haukea whispered a question, and Lataci answered with what Aikel was beginning to recognize as, "Yes."

Aikel and Kyri stepped around them. Pegasus and Unicorn jumped down and transformed into horses with both a horn and wings. "I guess there's not much point in talking to her, but..." Aikel mumbled. He drew his sword and raised his voice. "Mistice! We need that Frost Orb."

Mistice didn't move. Her short dark hair and her long white and purple loin cloth blew in the wind, but she was motionless--save for a small smile that crept onto her face and showed her fangs.

Aikel sighed, told himself to ignore the resulting puff of steam, and jumped forward to strike Mistice. Mistice flapped her wings to hop and kicked Aikel in the chest. He fell backwards into Kyri with a grunt.

"Is there a backup plan?" Kyri asked, helping him stand.

"Shut up," he muttered.

He started to lung at Mistice again, but Lataci dodged around him and reached her first. Having been prepared for Aikel, Mistice was an easy target, and Lataci's force knocked her off her perch on the pedestal. Lataci clung to her, and she landed on her talons without time to take flight.

Aikel and Pegasus went in opposite directions around the pedestal, but with the way Mistice and Lataci were moving, they couldn't strike at Mistice without taking a risk that they would hit Lataci instead.

Haukea jumped onto the pedestal, spear raised. The instant her paw touched the Frost Orb, Mistice's head snapped toward her. Mistice kicked Lataci aside with renewed force and lunged at Haukea, knocking her off the pedestal with a sweep of her claws. Haukea cried out in pain, and the stones she rolled over became bloody. Kyri rushed over to her.

Pegasus, Aikel, and Lataci converged on Mistice. The horn, sword, and claws all pierced her scales and caused shallow wounds before she managed to escape. She flew out of reach, and Pegasus jumped to take flight with her. He tried to fly above her to force her back downward. She clawed at his legs, and Lataci jumped up to sink her claws into Mistice's thigh. Mistice hissed and kicked the leg Lataci clung too, but Pegasus kicked her to the ground. She and Lataci landed in a heap. As soon as they were separated, Mistice jumped back to dodge Lataci's claws. Lataci attacked furiously, but Mistice dodged or blocked every blow. She spun and knocked Lataci's legs out from under her with her strong dragon-like tail. Everyone else was too far away to help, but as Mistice loomed over her to attack, she was struck by a light-colored blur.

Haukea slammed Mistice against a pillar on the edge of the dais. She braced her feet against a crack in the stones to keep from being pushed away as she tried to stab at Mistice with her spear. The spear went through the membrane of Mistice's wings, and Haukea couldn't pull it free. It was clumsy in such close quarters anyway, so Haukea began to fight with her claw. Mistice had already been clawing at her with both hands and feet while she stumbled with the spear. Haukea bit into the muscle of Mistice's shoulder as Mistice's talons dug into her thigh. They both shrieked in pain, and Mistice was finally able to push Haukea away, kicking her into Lataci.

Kyri was there to slash at Mistice's chest with her glaive, but Aikel and Pegasus came from the other side to draw her attention. Kyri joined Unicorn to help Haukea. Mistice advanced on Aikel, but Lataci approached from behind. She kicked Mistice in the back, knocking her forward. Surprised, Mistice was unable to dodge Aikel's attack. She stumbled to the side, slumped against the pedestal, and collapsed in a bloody heap on the ground.

"Is it dead?" Lataci asked hoarsely, backing up to stand by Haukea.

Kyri knelt by Mistice. "She's unconscious, and these wounds are fatal." Unicorn galloped closer, and the two of them began to use their magic to heal her.

Haukea spoke worriedly and uncertainly, looking back and forth between Kyri and Lataci.

"What are you doing?" Lataci demanded of Kyri. When she started to step closer, Aikel got in her way.

"It's okay," Aikel said. "There was a curse put on her. We've broken the curse now. It's safe to heal her."

"What?!" Lataci growled. She stomped forward, forcing Aikel back. He held his glaive up horizontally to block her. "Do you have any idea what that creature has done?!"

"It's not her fault!" Pegaus argued. "She was cursed! She had no control over herself!" He stepped closer, ready to defend Aikel, as Lataci hissed and unsheathed her claws.

"Lataci." Haukea suddenly placed her hand on Lataci's shoulder. Lataci twisted around to look at her as she spoke. After she was done, Lataci relaxed and slunk away.

"You are wise, Haukea," Unicorn said. She and Pegasus shrunk into their smallest forms and perched on Aikel and Kyri.

Haukea apparently understood the two of them. She stuttered as if the praise made her uncomfortable. She looked over solemnly when Lataci made some quick comment from where she leaned against a pillar.

"Is Mistice okay?" Aikel asked.

"She will be," Kyri said. Mistice crawled away slowly until she was off the edge of the dais. Kyri took the Frost Orb and gave half to Aikel.

"Let's go," Aikel said. He looked at Haukea and Lataci, but they didn't start to follow until the others had stepped off the dais. They trailed behind, speaking to each other while Aikel and Kyri found their way back to the village by following the path through the snow they'd made before.

Aikel wondered if the Frost Orb would let him understand the leotheran language like the Sea Orb let him understand the mermaids, but that wasn't the case. It seemed ice was not as important to the leoths as water was to mermaids.

After a while, Unicorn mumbled, "I'm curious...." She jumped off Kyri and went to scamper along near Haukea and Lataci.

"I heard you've resisted magical attacks," she asked Haukea. "How is that?"

Everyone could understand Unicorn, but Aikel and Kyri couldn't understand Haukea's answers. "She said she doesn't know," Pegasus translated. "She's just as confused by it as all her friends are."

"Well, are there any items you'd been carrying every time a sorcerer attacked you?" Unicorn asked. When Haukea frowned in thought, Unicorn mentioned, "A piece of jewelry maybe? I notice you were wearing a lot before."

Haukea pulled out her lone necklace. It was a pink stone on a gold chain. "She said she always wears that necklace," Pegasus said. He spoke up to make sure Unicorn could hear when he said, "I noticed there was some kind of energy in that necklace when we first met her. It's still there, but it seems a lot weaker. Is that what you feel too, Unicorn?"

"Yes," said Unicorn. "It felt like elven magic. One of the less pleasant varieties. It doesn't seem like the sort of magic that would be used to enchant a piece of jewelry for the purpose of defense."

"A long time ago, wasn't someone trying to do some study with gemstones and magic?" Pegasus asked. He scrunched up and scratched at Aikel's leather armor in frustration. "Darn my crappy memory."

"Something like that," Unicorn mumbled. "Perhaps Saraelye will know more about it if she's well by the time we return to Nalya?" She looked back at Haukea. "Where did you get that necklace?"

"She says it was a gift from Lataci and her father," Pegasus told Aikel and Kyri. "Her father bought the stone from a merchant from the south, and Lataci made it into a necklace."

"Do you know what kind of stone that is?"

Haukea looked at Lataci questioningly. "I believe the merchant said it was a sapphire," Lataci said. "I have seen very similar stones which other merchants have also called sapphires."

"Well, thank you," said Unicorn. She ran forward and climbed up to Kyri's shoulder. "I wonder if this information could be useful. There seem to be a number of sorcerers within the enemy forces. Pegasus and I are naturally defensive against magic, and you two are defended by your orbs, but we have allies who could surely benefit from some method of warding attack magic."

"If someone was researching it during the last war, there are probably still records about it, right?" Aikel asked. "But asking Saraelye might be easier."

"You are free to stay in our village until you are ready to leave our land," Lataci said.

"Thank you," said Kyri.

* * *

Kyri sighed as she buried herself in furs that the leoths had given her and huddled in the back of their borrowed house.

"Something wrong?" Aikel asked.

"Just wondering how everyone else is doing," Kyri said. "Yousei, Himeki, Gelrini.... Our team is practically scattered all over the world."

"I'm sure they're all safer than we are. Yousei and Himeki especially, but Gelrini will be fine too, because Flenn's taking care of her."

"Hmm, Flenn...."

"I know you don't really like him for whatever reason, but when he's given some kind of job to do, he puts everything he's got into it." Aikel suddenly sneezed. "I bet the others are also enjoying much better weather than we are."

Kyri giggled.

The next morning, Lataci met them as they left their house. "What will you being doing from now on?" she asked them. "You said you were going to fight the sorcerers and their minions. Are they the ones who put a curse on that creature?"

"Yes," said Aikel. "She's not the only one who suffered that way."

"I would like to come with you and offer my aid."

"Are you serious?" Aikel asked. "Don't your people need you here as a leader?"

"Leader?" Lataci frowned. "Who told you that I was some sort of leader?"

"Er... I don't know. It just seemed like everyone did what you told them, but then, I can't understand...."

"Regardless, I want to help you," Lataci continued. "I spared the creature at the temple because you convinced me she was not at fault for the harm she has caused my people, but I have yet to punish whoever is." She looked over her shoulder and saw Haukea approaching. "Plus... I simply don't want to live here anymore... but I have nowhere else to go."

"She can come with us, can't she?" Kyri said.

"We would appreciate your help," Aikel admitted.

"Thank you," said Lataci. "Allow me to tie up loose ends; I shall be ready to leave in just a few minutes."

She hugged Haukea on her way out and followed them to the ship, where the elves were surprised to see a creature like her. She spent most of the journey across the sea staying by herself, usually by the rail so that she could look out at anything of interest.

"What manner of creature lives where we're going?" she asked as they reached the port. "Elves? Or humans?"

"Elves are on this land," said Kyri. "We'll be going inland where there are faeries."

"I have never seen a faery," Lataci mused. "It's hot here."

"Hot?" Kyri asked. "I hadn't noticed, but I supposed you didn't feel cold where you live."

"Stop bouncing," Pegasus muttered to Aikel. He flapped to keep his balance on Aikel's head.

"I'm impatient," Aikel grumbled, watching the elven sailors prepare to let them off the ship. He glanced at Kyri and Lataci. "We need to hurry up and take our next step to fight back. Hopefully Saraelye or Prithvi knows where the next orb is." He sighed. "We aren't even sure what we're fighting--that is, who controls the forces that have been attacking us."

"As long as we find the controller and kill it," Lataci growled.

"Yeah," Aikel said softy. He looked down at his Frost Orb. "Don't worry. We will."