Title: Battle Plans and Battle Lines Authors: Stana & Spiffy Date: 6/21/00 _____ "I won't let you win!" Stana screamed defiantly into the wind " I won't anymore!" "Who are you shouting at?" asked a childish voice behind. The girl twirled, and gaped at the boy before her. "Ramdek?!" ________ The murmur of voices fluttered nervously around them as Elainas continued to size up the rebel leader. His gaze didn't falter, but he had the grace to look faintly ashamed. Kal was at her side, and she welcomed his presence there. "Syl?" murmured one "Then the stories of the captives be true." "We are here," she said "To rescue a slave. We were told that we would not lack allies in that endeavor. Were we wrong?" There was a momentary silence, and then the leader shook his head stiffly. "To humiliate Argnoth, and to wreak havoc upon him, you will find no better friends than us. Please, let us sit and talk together." he hesitated and looked at Stana still lying on the ground "The girl is injured?" "Clip?" the Ambassador asked. He shook his head "I know not" The Unicorn lifted her in his arms and headed back for the camp. "I will be able to concentrate more where there is warmth and light." Elainas heard the trepidation in the voice, faint but apparent to her. Looking at Audion, she saw that he had recognized the Unicorn's troubled manner as well. __________ "Ramdek-" Stana repeated, backing up a few steps. Why did he keep troubling her in her sleep? "You leave me so alone." he said in a petulant voice "it gets lonely here when you don't come. Don't you like me anymore?" "Of course I like you." the words were automatic, a response to the plaintive tone more than anything. If she had thought, she would have been more honest. This nightmare child bothered her in more than one way. "Then why don't you come visit me here? You know the way-you especially. But you don't come. What are you afraid of?" She looked around at the drab dankness of the area, and suddenly she felt a flood of real emotion. Unfortunately that emotion was fear. ____________ "Then we can travel under the cover of night and access the castle in three separate teams?" The thief asked skeptically "how do you figure on us not being seen?" "The guards are rarely concerned with anything outside. They are more concerned with keeping those in from escaping." Kal gave a sniff at that - He'd BEEN one of those guards not too long ago, but he wasn't about to make that common knowledge too soon. In any case only the Captain would find out, as Elainas and Kal were currently alone with him in his tent. The Syl had cast a small enchantment to prevent eavesdropers as well, but kept this knowledge to herself for now. "And once in, then where do we go?" "Everywhere. We've been given orders to leave only the slaves alive, which means we'll have to search the entire complex." Another sniff. "Brilliant battle plan there, Justinian. It's clearly evident that you've plotted out how to avoid all the pitfalls and traps that a highly skilled wizard would use to defend his lair." The Captain bristled at the blatant sarcasm, then regained control before he did anything embarrassing. "Information on Argnoth's magical defenses as well as a floor plan would be nice, but unfortunately we've no way of obtaining this." "So instead you plan to go in there and waste lives. Brilliant." "Are you suggesting we give up?" "I'm suggesting you plan ahead. I used to know someone on the inside. It's been a while so my information's a bit dated and secondhand, but it should give you a general layout." Captain Justinian's eyes narrowed a bit. "How fortuitous that you should come into our presence with this information." "Why do you think I brought him with me?" Elainas' question reminded both the men that there was a lady (not to mention an ambassador) present, and that they might best postpone their battle of testosterone until after the siege. "Right," Kal started, "Breaching the first wall is the easy part. After that you've got the courtyard, and that's designed to have no hiding places in it at all. The shadows will help if we hurry, but getting to the main complex unnoticed will be luck more than anything. "The only way into the central building is through the main doors, which are naturally barred when no one's going through them. The wood's most likely magically reinforced lumber, but the silly architect made them open outward." "What's the significance of that?" "It means the hinges are on the outside," The Captain told the elf. "Pop the hinges and the doors fall away." Justinian nodded to Kal to continue. Now he was in an area that was his specialty, and was beginning to rebuild some of the ego he'd so recently lost. "Once inside, most of the doors will have wards on them to prevent unauthorized people from waltzing around. The guards will have some sort of medallion or charm on them that lets them go through, but what kind I have no clue what it will look like. We'll have to figure that out when we're searching the first bodies." "What happens if someone goes through a warded door without a medallion?" "I never found out. I don't think it's fatal - Argnoth likes his property to remain alive - but I doubt anyone caught by a ward would be able to fight immediately afterwards. That deadweight would cost us more than a corpse would." "Noted. Once inside, where do you think we should go first?" The thief shrugged. "Everywhere you can without getting killed. He keeps the slaves on multiple levels to cut back the risk of a revolt, so it's up to you if you want to split into two groups and work up and down at the same time or just take the whole force in one direction. The halls are for the most part wide enough for more than one sword fight without feeling too cramped." "Any idea how may men he has?" "You've seen his fields no doubt. He's self sufficient, and even makes a good profit from sales of grain. Based on that, and the size of his castle, I'd say it holds no more than two hundred people. Don't ask me the slave/slaver ratio though - that was fluctuating too much to be sure back when my information was current." "Very well. We leave in six hours, so I suggest you get what downtime you can before then. You and your friends will be with my group when we split up to approach the outer wall. Good night." _________ The camp was silent as the elf and the thief walked back to their designated sleeping area with only the faint glow of coals from various fire pits providing light for them. "That was very brave of you to volunteer so much information, Kal. I'm sure the Captain suspects the truth behind your white lies, however." "I'm sure he does, but the trust of a Syl goes a long way even in Madron. It's not really Justinian I fear, It's any one of those young zealots ready to die for the cause that get me worried. Justinian may suspect, but I trust he'll keep his mouth shut when it comes to where he got his inside information from." Elainas nodded at Kal's comments. She'd come to the same conclusion herself, after all. The Captain was no fool. "It's not just that. You're risking an awful lot to come back here." "Not really. I don't have much else, you see - Argie hired me when I was fifteen, and I worked for him ever since. No friends, no family, no ties whatsoever since the @#$% cut my pension. I'm sure I'll manage to settle down and build some type of decent life once this is all over, but until then ... I just .... need ...." "Closure." "Exactly." The two walked on in silence. _________ Meanwhile, Clip was standing watch over the still sleeping form. This slumber was both relieving and distracting. There was no reason for her to sleep so. She had barely touched the power in this area, he could still sense the raw elemental surges rocketing under the placid surface of control. Yet she did not waken. Or even show any sign of doing so in the near future. "I like this not." he muttered. "this is not normal even by mortal standards." "Indeed," Audion said, and Clip started, not registering the presence of the other so close. "So what do you think of this?" The Unicorn stared distrustfully at the wanderer, then turned his attention back to the girl. Suddenly he stiffened as if struck. "Th-that is not possible!" he stammered "She cannot traverse those roads in her mind as it sleeps-no mortal can who has not the Dreamer blood!" "What is your meaning?" Audion asked with interest "You know what has happened to her?" "The girl has trapped herself in the Nachtmer!" he had to have been mistaken, but the signs and his sense of balance in that unconscious world told him that he was not. "It should not be possible-" "If that is the fact then-" Clip was already gathering the girl in his arms, a slight luminescence enveloping them. "Awaken, Keeper" he admonished "the world of dreams are not for the mortals who will again open their eyes." ________ Stana backed away again, not knowing where she could go to, only knowing that she had to get out somehow. This place inspired a primal fear in her whose cause was unknown. But she understood her fear of Ramdek, who exuded the same sense as this place did, originated from. "Send me back." She said quietly "You took me here, send me back. Now" "But I didn't." he answered innocently, appearing astonished at her emotions "you came her by yourself. You can do it so easily, all of the ones who traveled here can. But you have been hiding the path by not sleeping, or drugging yourself senseless. But your feet trod here when you aren't in a stupor, because there is something here you need." She had begun to ask what he meant, when she felt a tug at her sleeve, and Clip calling for her. "I'm here!" she called. Then looked at Ramdek "There is nothing I want from you, boy. Except for you to leave me be. You are a child of that dreamworld that should not have been unlocked. Do not seek to pull me here again." He didn't say anything, but smiled oddly as she disappeared. ______ Stana woke with a start, casting her arms around Clip as a drowning person reached for a raft. "What the hell just happened!?" she asked "I thought only Oraiyas could lead us there???" "You recognized it?" Clip asked "Only when I realized you couldn't enter." she answered "Dammit, why does that kid keep showing up in my dreams?" Clip had no answer, but disentangled himself from her grip and stood. "Are you fit?" "Shaken," she quipped bitterly "not stirred. What happened?" "A disruption in the elemental balance" Audion said, surprising Stana by being there. "I felt it not long before the ambush. The Water element ceased." "Ceased?" Stana asked, puzzled "What do you mean?" Audion shrugged. "The presence of that element has vanished as far as the presence of its chosen. The shifting in elemental balances probably triggered your "fit." "Fit?" She shook her head "What-oh." she remembered now, and that memory leadened her heart. Again she had lost control. Who had she killed this time? "No one was hurt," Clip said hastily, "None seriously at any rate." "I see you are awake, Chosen." Elainas stated, entering the group. "Are you ready to go?" "To rescue Finn?" at her nod, Stana got to her feet "The sooner the better."