Converstaions 1
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 18:42:43 EDT
author: kit, stana
********
    The elementalist leaned heavily on the General's shoulder,
occasionally glancing over at the set expression.  It hadn't been
necessary for him to interfere with Tall's task, but then he was just
looking
after a
tool.

Used again.  Audion grimaced at the thought.  It seemed the military
forces
of the world were drawn to him.  Galenus, Lieh, and now this "Lyr".

More politics, more bargaining.  Lyr would want....need what he knew of
the
icy warrioress to better evaluate the situation.

It would also keep the chosen out of the lady-commander's hands.  Yes,
he
would help.
********
General R'Kelnin supported the man into the darkened corridor, nodding
to the three troop keepers who had just taken up shift there. He could
see they were burning with questions, but noted approvingly that none
interrupted him on his buisness.

In the end, he was an eminently practical soldier. The lower level
chambers would serve to keep this man contained; after all, they were
created to protect the royalty in case of Castle Breach (not that this
past
battle had warranted such a usage, nor had there been time). What kept
others out, would keep the Wanderer IN.

"Get a healer," he ordered one of the guards. How many times had he
called
the healers down to attend his charge? The other two took up position
at the
chamber door. The General helped the prisoner to the bed, and relieved
the
guard of one of his wineflasks.

Handing Audion the container, Lyr snagged a chair, flipping it to
settle
astride.  The elementalist looked at the flask disdainfully, then set
it
aside.  How awkward the other man looked, sitting on the chair like
that.

Audion almost felt like they were casual friends, but he quickly
remembered
the uniform and his loathing for the other's profession returned.  The
almost
friendly sparkle faded from his eyes just as quickly.

Lyr noted the untapped wine with a shrug. It would have warmed the man,
but
to each his own. Focusing on the wanderer's face, he resumed his
questioning.

"Who attacked us?" RKelnin pressed "How did they know about the
Elementals
here?"

"I don't know much- but apparently," Audion added with a small smile,
"enough
to warrant being removed."  Lyr looked up impatiently for the healer.

Thin trickles of blood still slid, albeit slowly, from the man's neck.

"What is your name?" Lyr suddenly asked, aware that introductions had
been
inconclusive earlier.

"Audion," the man replied, obviously reluctant.  A shadow of fear
flashed in
the man's eyes, but then they returned to stone.  Lyr waited for a
surname, a
place, but no other information followed. He decided not to press the
issue.

"I am General Lyr R'Kelnin, of Skae's Army of Steel. You may continue
now,"
he replied.

"I was well informed of your identity from the muttering of your
troops.
While travelling through Manshu, towards a large body of Water energy-"

Audion stopped, then continued as he rememberd the mage had already
told the
general that Audion was an elementalist. Whether Lyr was versed in what
that
meant, Audion didn't know.  "I circumvented by a small gathering of
troops,
into a cavern where the energy of water flowing from incredibly
intense.
There, the sixth apprehended me by surprise.

"The Commander had three men with her. The one you killed, skilled in
bending
light, another, a huge bear of a man with the wits of one, too, and the

third- an imitation elementalist."

Lyr nodded impatiently. He'd want to know the details of this general's

personal guard later, for sure. Right now he had more pressing matters.

Numbers? Weapons? Intentions?

With a wry breath that sounded like the beginnings of a laugh, Audion
noticed
the General's attempt to conceal his impatience. "Very well. The
Commander
was a woman named Lieh.  She heads a large number that calls themselves
the
6th Army.  They seemed foreign- as did their accents.  Her army wore a
dark
studded leather armor, and showed rank by knots on the upper arm.  The
army
itself was a mixture of humans and non-humans."

Lyr narrowed his eyes. Non-humans were often times more difficult to
fight
all-out, if they had been trained enough to form an army.  And Audion
had
said earlier that this Commander. .. this woman.. was worthy of praise.

Lyr could remember only one woman who commanded an army, and the
thought
raised the small hairs on the back of his neck.  There was a tentative
knock
on the door Lyr was on his feet as one of the guards swung wide the
wooden
arch, revealing a single figure looking very small and insecure in such
a
large doorway. THe General gave a start of dismay....

It was the Earth Elemental, her guardian frowning severely over her
shoulder.
  As shocked as Lyr was, there was no comparison to the reaction of
Audion.

The elemantalist's eye's widened in a split second, then he shrieked
bringing
his hands up in a defensive manner.  The ring on his finger flared, a
small
burst of flame catching only the elementalist with its bite.

Audion collapsed on the bed and shook, gripping his wounded hand.

Stana looked undisturbed, a washbasin and cloth clutched in her hands.
They
shook with a slight tremor that matched the weary strain behind her
eyes. She
looked blankly into the room.

  "R'kelnin, please..." Audion gasped for breath, "why is the
chosen...of
earth here?"

    Lyr's swift movement positioned between the elementalist and Stana,
the
chair teetering before settling down on four legs once more.

 "How did you know?" He demanded, the same hot pride in his eyes as
when he
had
been questioning the wanderer of the Chosen.

    "I would know any of them you put before me," Audion replied
simply, his gaze glossy. "They shine like deities to my
eyes....please," he
begged, "Their power is too vast for me to handle in my condition...it
causes
more pain then your inquisitor could even dream of..."

   Lyr frowned, then looked to Stana.  "Why have you come?  Where is
the
healer?"

 "The healers are all busy.  That wound isn't much compared to what
others
are suffering, and it is the others that need professional help now,"
she
said matter-of-factly, her explanation leaving little room for debate.

However sympathetic or un-sympathetic Lyr might feel towards his
charge,
Stana strode up next to the General,
getting a closer look at her patient. The wanderer would just have to
bear
whatever it was he was feeling, Lyr thought. War-time was never
pleasant.
    Audion's eyes had become unnaturally vacant, but he slowly calmed.
 He sat perfectly still, and looked down at Lyr's boots.  The General
couldn't recall the wanderer ever being so submissive.

********
It felt it, the bright green star in the blackness, and moved to
engulf it.

Audion moved in front of the star, taking the force himself.  "Now is
not the time!  getting killed now would serve no purpose. "  The void
slowly retreated, back to the recesses from which it had reared. Audion
could see his aura was bleeding again.

He looked up from the dripping liquid, the green light morphing into
the form of a woman.  The planet of Narada shined on her forehead, but
shadowed darkly. Then, on the guardian behind her, shone no form, but
the entire Unicorn itself was bathed in the new-green light of spring.
This
one needed no symbol but itself.  Finally, Audion saw the proud
mountain lion
of the General, but strangely, the man had no elemental affinity.