AN: Hay ya'll... well, first off, thanks for being so patient with me with this chapter! I know its nearly been a month but this darn thing did not want to be written. Its shorter than I wanted, and I'm still mad at it, but the action starts picking up next chapter and things should go smoother from there. I haven't been entirely idle this last month though... I've written three short Harry Potter fics, a short Buffy fic, four chapters of a Mummy fic, five chapters of a Labyrinth fic, and have made, umm, six new web sites(all with multiple pages), all in the last month. Not bad huh? Also, everyone wave hello to Sailor DKC. I checked my mail one day and found this really nice message telling me that someone was actually inspired by one of my fanart pieces and wrote a story based off it. Its a really cool fic called Always Together... Just wanted to publically say hi, thanks, and best of luck. =) And, for some really good news... General's Love is making a come back! The site is back up to about half capacity at the tripod site and is currently making the move to a new domain since the old one died. If anyone could get into contact with Lady Mars, her email addy hasn't worked for anyone, we'd all be eternally grateful, specially venusian. If you've lost the addy, etc, I'll try to post it soon, or just email me and I'll send it to you. C-ya'll later! Kei ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Nightmares: Chapter Five~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ For once Zaite did not have to quiet his men. Uneasy, disturbed, hushed silence reigned as they rode through the desolate land. Spirit's Wood was bare, stripped of life, dead in a sense that went farther than that which was opposite of life. Their spooked mount's hooves kicked up ash as stone trunks towered over them and spread equally dead branches up overhead, like skeletons. They plodded onward by grim accord, faces set, scarred souls horrified by the utter desolation laid waste to a land that had been teeming only a week before. Zaite had seen what Spirit's Wood had looked like when he had stood on one of the balconies of Roshana's Palace to receive orders from General Kunzath, a man so cold most of the men feared him. Where there had once been green had existed only gray... a depressing powdery gray that stood out on the border shared between Roshana and Bleserd like a festering wound. Perhaps the new King Darius had refused to believe what his eyes told him... perhaps General Kunzath had refused to believe the evidence as well... Zaite hadn't needed to set foot in this doomed place to tell his superiors that this had been the work of the Sleeping Ones... Of one of the Five Lords of Nightmares, perhaps THE Lord of Nightmares. What other being could kill a forest with his touch? There would be no keeping the news from the common people now... Not when they could stand upon a hill and see the tangible evidence of the Sleeping Ones' awakening in the dark promise of Spirit's Wood. Chaos would ensue. Memories were vague of the rule of the Sleeping Ones but there seemed to be an instinctual fear passed on, generation to generation. Even babes feared the Lords of Nightmares. The armies had quietly been massed and orders given. Roshana was ready for battle, silently poised, but ready. Soldiers knew that the wild rumors running through the country were true and were forbidden, on threat of a traitor's death, from saying or hinting at anything, even to their own families. There would be panic and Zaite shuddered. He had seen a mob once, had seen a child crushed beneath an uncaring people's heels. Imagine if a whole country panicked, if two did, for Bleserd would share in Roshana's fate. They had been one country centuries past, one country which had been the birth of the Five, humanity's saviors. One country split in two but together they would, had to, face whatever wrath the Sleeping Ones wished to inflict. For once Zaite was feverishly glad that he was an orphan and that he had no wife, or children. He doubted that few would survive the time of trouble that was coming. Coming soon, so soon. For from the slopes of the gentle mountains which had once been covered with a carpet of trees, now dead, a line of clouds, dark, dirty, stretched across the horizon, over the sea, as far as the eyes could see. There was nothing natural about that line of menace, nothing natural, nothing comforting. They promised death, instinct as old as humanity's birth told Zaite that, and would tell any other who looked at them. "Come on men," he barked, "full speed back to Rosha." The men stared at him quietly, faces shuttered, closed. Finally one urged his mount forward, met Zaite's piercing green gaze and looked quickly away. "Sir," Jamus said softly, "we was wondering... Only a fool would be blind not ta see what's there, not to know the rumors are truth. There's no point in going back. Bleserd's just on the other side of those mountains and the passes are still open..." Zaite winced. He had not thought that it would come to this so quickly. He did not chide his man. Normally such comments would force charges of treason, or at least court marshal, but Zaite had no intention of reporting Jamus or any of the others who were looking towards the border with longing, not in the face of the Sleeping Ones. "And you think they won't take Bleserd as well Jamus? We were one country when we defeated them last. Why should Bleserd be safer?" Rone, a young man, broke through the ranks, fear plainer on his untrained face than the others. "Fine then," he said sharply, loudly, "what about the lands beyond?" Zaite simply looked at him, coolly. "And after they conquer our lands, where will they turn? The Sleeping Ones owned the world Rone, why should they settle for less now? If we must die wouldn't you rather die a hero than a traitor?" Rone broke eye contact first and Jamus spoke again. "Then is it so sure, that we will die?" Zaite gave the soldier credit, his voice never wavered. His men were not cowards but even kings trembled before the power of the Sleeping Ones. "No," Zaite replied. "There was no hope before, and then the Five came. They triumphed, and we live because of them..." "The Five are dead..." "Yes,' Zaite replied swiftly, softly, "but perhaps their spirits live on. Do you truly think that we will vanish into darkness, into eternal night, without a fight? Come, we must ride." He kicked his mount and the horse, only to glad to be rid of a place that whispered of newly created ghosts, galloped away. Zaite did not look back until he cleared the skeletal forest but when he did all him men were behind him, white faced, more frightened than he had ever seen them and they were tough men, but behind him. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Aimes stifled a yawn and gripped the pommel of her mount's saddle to catch her balance. Jadreth looked over, face concerned. "You sure you're all right?" he asked. Aimes nodded gamely and smiled, though it was pained. "Yes," she replied softly. "I've never ridden a horse before. While I find the experience interesting I'd probably enjoy it a lot more if I didn't do it for fourteen hours each day." Jadreth winced and dropped back from his position as lead on the road. "Lady Aimes, I am sorry... If there was any other way..." Aimes leaned over and patted his arm awkwardly before returning her death grip on the pommel. "I know Captain, I know. I've seen the shadows of the Sleeping Ones, felt them grip my heart." Roshana, Darius needed him, the expelled prince, the tarnished knight, the fallen angel, the bloodied hero. "I do not chide your haste, I only wish I was more able to accommodate you." Jadreth smiled and bowed slightly in his saddle. "My Lady, your presence is accommodation enough." He did not say the rest, what his frank blue eyes managed to convey, but Aimes knew. Knew he feared what he was returning to. Knew he saw his princedom as a trap, a cage, a gilded cage but a cage none the less. Knew he had made bitter enemies before he had renounced his birthright. Knew he had not seen his cousin since he was a boy and was afraid of what kind of man he had become. Knew how much he hated politics and intrigue. Knew how he longed for the ocean with all of his soul. Knew how he felt like he was abandoning his ship, his crew, but knew, just as innately, that he had no other choice. They had been on the road three long weeks. In that time Aimes had seen more of Roshana than she had ever dreamed of, ever wished to. She herself longed for Ocean's Love with an intensity that frightened her. She missed her home and she too felt like she was abandoning something, her people, the men and women and children that she had cared for all her life. They would need her, in the coming weeks, months, years. They would need her if, when the Sleeping Ones came. They would need her and she would not be there because someone, something, needed her more. The need, unexplained, undefined, drew her to Roshana, bound her to the man she rode beside. Her fate was linked, at least in part, with his. Aimes had never been a big believer in destiny, in predestination, but something pulled her from the safety of the only home she had ever known. Something demanded her presence, demanded her allegiance. Something demanded her strength. Her full mouth thinned, hardened, and she closed cerulean eyes, biting back a weary sigh. "Is it truly necessary, that I wear this?" she asked in a way of breaking the uneasy silence that had descended between them. Jadreth's eyes traveled the length of her breeches, loose peasant shirt, and flowing, coarse cloak before nodding emphatically. He was dressed much the same way, though slightly better. "Yes," he replied shortly, without elaboration. "I'm not a child Captain," Aimes snapped tiredly. "I know the pain that can befall an undefended woman. I know why the girls are sent to collect crabs and drift wood when a ship docks at Ocean's Love. I am a healer." Jadreth's face softened and it was his turn to lean over and offer comfort. "You shall never be undefended Lady, as long as I draw breath, but as skilled as I may be with a sword or dagger I fear a group of bandits would overpower even me. Its safer to appear a man, at least for now. We'll be in Rosha soon, no more than another four days of hard travel and we'll be at the city gates." Aimes nodded and smiled. "Four days," she repeated softly, for strength. Jadreth nodded encouragingly and urged his steed ahead of Aimes's dainty mare. They continued onward. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Rhi slipped through the alley ways of Brenith, a large mining town that sprawled at the base of the mountains that separated Bleserd and Roshana, though the town itself was within Bleserd's borders. Walaw and Waerl trailed silently behind her, moving shadows outlined with splashes of dirty white fur. She moved silently, unseen, unnoticed, a temporary blemish against the brick and stone of the building walls she followed. She passed taverns, inns, and bars. Walaw or Waerl left her temporarily to scavenge for scraps of food. Rhi couldn't afford to feed them; she could barely afford to feed herself but then, they were true Landless animals... they did not need her charity. She had not taken much from her home the night she had slipped away. Her wedding ring glinted dully on one finger and she curled her hands into fists as she moved swiftly. Her long hair was unbound, a free waterfall of ebony that reached down her back. She wore the clothes of a peasant but the material was finer, colors brighter. She only lacked true jewelry but then, that would impede her movement and Rhi, unlike her people, was a practical woman. Growing up the daughter of a merchant and the wife of a noble had taught her the expediancy of that. She would be home soon, another week's travel, perhaps. Rhi's heart soared at the thought. She had not her mother's magic, Fate had seen to deny her that much, but she had enough to know where her people were. They called to her, pulled her by her weary soul towards their own. Slender fingers stroked the feather tied securely to her vest and Rhi sighed as she leaned against a cool brick wall. She looked up, into the night sky, and couldn't quite contain the shiver that ran down her body as fat snowflakes fell from the heavens. She'd need to either buy or steal a cloak before she went into the mountains. Hopefully she wouldn't freeze before she found her family.