| �Why am I here? How am I here? What is going on?� Within herself she cries out, but no one answers, not even Evil himself. She opens her eyes. Abarania bursts in a flash of light and disappears. With a renewed hope, Delinia looks around her prison. It is a small stone room. No windows. Somehow, there is no door, no hole anywhere to be found.
�Never mind how you got in here. It is merely important that you are here,� the cruel figure of flames manifests in front of her. Terrified, she shrinks back against the wall. �But, if you really want to know�� from within himself he pulls out a blue star. �NOoooo!� her shriek echoes in the now empty room� Venderick suddenly grabs for his necklace. It was there, but empty. No spirit remained, dead or alive. Just gone. �No!� His cry causes the nearby birds to fly away, echoing his love�s cry. �My love doth die and I cannot be comforted by the echoing memory of last feeling her life force before it leaves this world-� �So, possessed by a charm of Farathon she is� when one of those in evil hands lies, happen bad things to the person whose life force inhabits it�� the wise fairy talks as if not another soul was in hearing, �Strange mortals are. How once loved I one is very strange. Oh how long ago� What happened to her one wonders�� Delinia passes out after her scream, that is her captured soul does. She hangs onto life by but a small sliver of a thread. But she does not know this. All she knows, is, feels, is the beauty of the forest. She hears the gentle water of a small stream. She sees the pink flowers like those by that stream, the stream she drank from not too long ago. She goes and picks one of them. She plucks it carefully, then sits on a rock in the sunlight. She stares at it, taking in, drinking in the sheer beauty and intricacy. There are little veins of violet in the petals. A little butterfly then decides to fly around, orange and glorious. It lands on the flower. It flutters a little then it suddenly changes from orange to enflamed. She screams and opens her eyes. She hoped to be looking into Venderick�s eyes. Instead she�s looking at cold stone walls. She�s trapped but for some reason she feels more strengthened. Her heart feels stronger. Wait her hear� she feels for her necklace. It�s not there. But instead of being sullen, she suddenly grasps her chest, her heart. It is giving a green light, even through her dress. What is going on? She is so confused� Tiercal looks to the East. �Oh it�s clearing up.� The clouds have disappeared and it seems so much brighter now. He kicks his horse to a slightly faster gait. �We�re closer now. We need to go faster.� The rest of the company falls in behind. Soon their path crosses the road from the Cave of Anguish. They halt and solemnly look down it. �May all those down that path live real lives, not shadows of them. May our friends find safety and soon be able to rejoin us.� Oka and his companions see the sun rising over the towers of Kaiscond. �It�s strange how so beautiful a sight it is, that evil places� A new light makes anything look good.� �So you say. So you say Oka. For what my heart says, it�s a bad place no matter what it looks like. I wish we didn�t have to go there.� �But we must go closer, to lure out their defenses, those awful possessed armies. We have to give Tiercal and the others any sort of chance to defeat the Elof.� �What� oh yeah, �Evil Lord of the Flames.� Now I remember you making up that less intense acronym. No, Aln�riki let us not fear using his true name, for fear of just a name soon leads to terror of the named, well unnamed, entity� So thus dawns the day of Sump Cerralts� defeat or the defeat of freedom and life, beautiful but foreboding�� The convoy from the Cave of Anguish with the remnants of some of Tiercal�s Army and Venderick cradling Delinia�s soulless body on the back of Fryon, making their way to Kaiscond as fast as they can. Soon the road they travel goes slightly into the Uninhabited Forest and joins another, by the River Rum. They pause. �Fresh tracks.� Ol�n states the obvious. Many have trod along the path recently. �I hope we are not too late to help Tiercal�� They go even faster up the path to Kaiscond. Oka and the Forest Protectors ride on, into the plain sight of anyone with one eye in the towers of the evil city. The dozen or so who ride with him are no match for the forces of Elof. Their only hope is that Tiercal and the rest can attack from behind once their distraction is complete. At least the enemy lacks bowmen. Foot soldiers are easier to defeat. Oka checks his quiver. He has about twenty arrows. Hopefully it will be enough. He looks from Nas�nio to Aln�riki to everyone else. �Ready?� They nod. �Then let�s go.� �Let the Lord of Kaiscond come forth and discuss his terms of surrender.� His cry echoes all the way up to the guard tower on which the bowmen stand. They shoot the warning arrow in the dirt a few feet in front of him. �So it begins�� He loads his own bow and shoots again and again, within about ten seconds he kills half the bowmen. The others are stunned and stare at their fallen comrades. Stupid move They soon are slain. But the joy in that one small victory is stopped short when the whole of Cerralt�s top general�s troops storm from the gates. Oka turns to his men. �Back up while fighting, not too fast and not too slow. We need to drive them out. And let us hope there are no N�maton with them.� He has put away his bow and raises his sword. �For Lynchuria and Tiercal!�� Just south of the city, Tiercal and the rest of his army hear the battle cry. �Let�s go.� With two simple words, every man knows what to do. Quietly as possible they race on to the dark city. It is unsettling, somehow, that no one does anything to stop them. They have not spilt a drop of blood yet. �I don�t like this.� All of his men are within a short distance of the city. It is silent, an uneasy quiet. He closes his eyes. �It�s a trap�� His voice fades as he turns around and sees an army approaching, cloaked in Black. �N�maton!...� Delinia is utterly confused. She knows the room she is in is not physically possible. Deep down she knows her body is not captive here. But it all seems so darn real. She had the hope of seeing her beloved Venderick when she opened her eyes. And in that moment she felt better. She thinks about her blissful times in Doria. The walls around her become dust. She leaves her cell, mad and ready to kill the Lord of the Flames. |
| NOW the question arises... can I finish this story, will it continue??? Only time can tell...... |