''Alanaodh", (c) Yumeko (Nibedita Sen) and Kasumi (Emily Pannell)

Role-played by Yume and Kasu.

Adapted into story format by Yume.

In this chapter: Yume: Yumeko, Seth, the mercenary ; Kasu: Kasumi, Cornelius

++TWO++

- “Contorted symmetry” -

Morning dawned clear and golden, as if ignorant of the night's events. Thin shafts of sunlight pierced the green and bronze canopy of the trees cover, spreading across the forest floor and dappling it with dusky shadows. They were near Nantosuela now, and the trees had thinned out considerably.

The sounds of activity began to stir the camp as soon as the first rays of sunlight touched it. Ronan and his men were the first to rise, unpicketing the horses and strapping their saddles back on, while Deirdre, a grumpy and rumpled-haired Shizuko, and a yawning Yume helped take down the billowing tents and pack them away. Seth didn't do much to help, lounging by the camp on a on a fallen tree trunk and watching them with a bored expression--breaking off only to go help Alyce saddle up her horse. Surprisingly, the proud warrior mage didn't object to his help, a fact that Yume's sharp eyes didn't fail to notice.

At length, they were packed and ready to go forth once more. The only change from their previous riding arrangements was that Shizuko now rode with Deirdre. And of course, the addition of one very irritable mercenary, trussed up and plonked over the saddle of the remaining horse.

Yumeko was less than pleased with the treatment her friend was getting, but she couldn't think of any valid way to raise an objection. She was still in something of a dilemma herself, her loyalty to Athuria warring with the surprise and joy of having her long-lost childhood friend literally drop out of the sky and land in their midst. Nonetheless, her smile didn't waver as they mounted their horses and set forth, the smooth canter of the horses and the slight clanking of the guards' armour gradually falling into a rhythm.

In fact, she slowly edged her horse sideways till it was more or less alongside the one Kasumi was draped over. Ronan, who was leading said horse by the reigns, gave her a quizzical look, but didn't comment.

Wrinkling her nose at him, Yume turned her attention to the sullen woman on the horse's back. "How're your wounds?" she asked cheerfully.

Kasumi said nothing in response, nor did she look in Yume's direction. The only thing she did was look towards the ground as she shifted a bit, though obviously there was no comfortable position for her.

A bit behind the horses in the front, Shizuko watched this all with interest. She looked at her sister as she whispered, "What do you think Lady Yumeko is talking to the mercenary about?"

Deirdre narrowed her eyes at her younger sister, pulling on the reigns of her horse to steer it slightly to the side. The animal whinnied and tossed its head before complying.

"Do you have to ask?" she asked resignedly, though there was only gentle amusement, not anger, in her tone. "Yumeko would be sweet even to a Dagdan spy if she met one." The subject of her comment appeared to have heard her, and turned back to stick her tongue out at her. Deirdre laughed, and even Alyce, riding behind them, chuckled.

Smiling, Yumeko turned back to focus her attention once more on the sullen mercenary. Kasumi's silence bothered her, but she tried hard not to let it show. It wasn't like she hadn't expected it. Instead, she cocked her head to the side and presented Kasumi with another smile as she asked "Have you been to Nantosuela before? Okay, stupid question, I'm sure you have. Isn't it wonderful?"

No answer.

She pushed her lips out in a pout. Okay, maybe she should try comforting her?

"It's not that much further," she assured the by now glowering mercenary airily. "We should be there in another three hours or so."

Silence, and no reaction other than a black look. She thought she heard Deirdre and Shizuko sigh in concerto, and Seth chuckle.

Another tack then. "Did you kill that feran yesterday? Wow, you must be really strong--"

"You know, I'm disappointed in you Yume." Kasumi said, switching back to their native tongue. The woman had probably intended for no one else to understand what she was saying. I thought the two of us were friends, but here we are with you sending me off to my death. I thought that friends never betrayed each other for who they were. I guess I was wrong." She then stopped speaking. However, she still kept the dark look on her face, never taking her gaze away from the mage.

Yume shuddered in spite of herself under the weight of her accusing stare, her words dying on her lips. Kasumi's words cut a painful swathe right to her heart. Was that what she was doing? Betraying their friendship?

Despite the warm sunlight dappling the forest floor around them, she felt a cold shiver go up her spine. Of course she was. Mercenaries had bounties on their heads. If Kasumi was not executed, she would be imprisoned for life at the very least. But once again, what could she do? She didn't even have full authority over the party she was supposedly leading, let alone enough power to free Kasumi.

Once again, she was powerless. A pawn in the hands of her master, as always. Trapped by the position she had unwillingly been forced into.

Her fingers went instinctively once more to the silver band she wore. The metal was cool, despite the warmth of the day. The band, and the ruby set in it, marked her as the apprentice of the Magemaster herself. A noble post, and one many novice mages would aspire to. But very few of those novices would know the true nature of the post. To her, the band was no mark of honour. It was like a collar, a leash. A trap.

Lost in her thoughts, her guard went down for a moment, and she was sure the hurt and pain showed clearly on her face. Then, she gathered herself together and hid it behind the sunny smile that had come to be her defence over the years. "I'm sorry," she whispered again.

Kasumi's own expression changed. Though it wasn't as a dramatic change as Yumeko's, it was pretty obvious it happened. The accusation in her eyes softened to…what was it? Sorrow? Whatever it was, she still refused to say anything to her. Instead of holding this gaze between the two, the scarred woman quickly turned away and instead began to look at the ground.

Unsure of whether she had imagined the slight softening of Kasumi's expression, Yumeko shook her head a few times. She searched for something else to say, but never got the chance.

There was a terrific howl let loose from the back of the party, and then her horse whinnied madly and bucked to the side, almost throwing her off. Twisting rapidly in her saddle, her eyes alighted upon the source of its fear.

Lumbering out of the trees lining the well-worn path they were following, was a creature that looked like a misshapen man, though it towered over ten feet high and its body was a mass of brawny, bunched muscle run through with veins. Matted locks of hair hung over its eyes, which were narrow and bloodshot, and claws graced its fingertips. Standing hunched, with bent knees, it lumbered towards them like a boulder that had detached itself from the mountainside…albeit one with frightening speed. The horses let loose panicked whinnies, scattering and backing off towards the side of the earthen path, ignoring their riders' commands.

A forest troll.

"What're you waiting for!?" Alyce's sharp voice cut through the transfixed state she had fallen into at the sight of the troll. The warrior-mage had nimbly dismounted her horse, sending the animal rocketing off into the underbrush with a slap to its behind. Ronan and his guards had done the same, knowing, as she did, that it was impossible to fight trolls on horseback. One had to be nimble and able to dodge instantly.

Alyce drew her sword with a sharp, ringing noise. The metal glittered in the sunlight. "Go on!" she barked. "Get off the path!" Glancing wildly around her, Yumeko saw that Deirdre and Shizuko had already steered their horse away to the side, into the woods. The only people left on the path were than Alyce and Ronan's men, who stood in a rough semi-circle between her and the troll. Seth had dismounted as well, and was now jogging to take up a position next to Alyce, already mouthing the words of a spell.

She shook her head wildly, and reached for the reigns of Kasumi's horse. However, the panicked animal reared and bucked away, snatching its reigns away moments before her fingers touched them. Before anyone could prevent it, the horse finally accomplished its goal of bucking Kasumi off and sent the woman sprawling to the ground.

"Kasumi!" Yumeko screamed, drawing her own horse up sharply by the reigns as it bucked as well.

Ahead, the troll roared as Alyce carved a gash in its side with a swing of her sword. The girl's sword was glowing faintly black, she had worked a spell on it to let it carve through the troll's thick hide. Ronan and his men were not however, having such success. Their weapons were batted away like blades of grass, and two of the knights had already been sent sprawling by heavy blows to land unconscious by the path side.

The ground rippled and echoed with the sound of the impact as the creature swung its meaty fists up in the air and smashed them down on the earth. Dust and leaves showered from the trees, and a storm of dirt was thrown up. Alyce and Seth were thrown bodily back by the impact, as were the remaining knights.

But the troll was already swivelling around, its tiny red eyes glowering through the haze of slowly settling dust to fix on Kasumi and Yumeko. Yumeko froze under the malevolence of the creature's glare, her hands frozen on the reigns.

With lumbering steps, the troll began to stumble towards them. "Yumeko, come on!" she heard Deirdre scream from the underbrush. "Get away from there!" Her breath coming in panicked gasps, Yumeko glanced wildly around.

And made a decision.

Abandoning the reigns, she slipped off her horse and landed on the ground. The panicked creature wasted no time wheeling around and disappearing into the tree cover by the side of the road. Crouching by Kasumi, Yumeko placed a hand on the mercenary's shoulder and clenched the other into a fist, desperately running through the list of spells she knew.

"You idiot! Listen to your friends and get out of here!" Kasumi yelled at her, not making Yumeko's thought process any better. "You shouldn't waste your breathe and just save yourself."

"No!" Yumeko yelped back. "I can't leave you!"

She finally settled on a concussion spell. An elemental attack like fire or ice would not be much avail against the troll's armoured hide. But if she could push it back long enough...

Both her hands began to glow pale white, as she rose to a kneeling position and raised them in front of her. She whispered the final words of the spell, and then twin blasts of mist-like fire raced like wraiths to pummel the troll, leaving ghostly trails of vapour in their wake. The ground shook once more, as the troll staggered heavily back. Everyone present at the scene had to shudder at the awful howl it released. It was like a sound dredged up from the very bowels of the earth.

But throwing it off balance, however momentary, had given them all the advantage Yume had hoped it would. Within an instant, several hooking-flails and chains had whipped around the troll's thick wrists, thrown by those of Ronan's knights that were still standing. They pulled taut and restrained it, supplemented by a few more pummelling concussion spells from Seth, as Alyce buried her sword up to the hilt in the back of its neck.

If the howl the creature had let loose before was terrible, it was nothing compared to the one it unleashed now. Brawny muscles bunching and features contorting, it ripped the chains off itself and brushed the knights to the side like leaves. One arm reached behind it and grabbed Alyce, tossing her aside to crash heavily into a tree.

But the sword remained buried in its flesh and its struggles were weakening. A lower, strangled howl escaped it as it staggered forward, Seth, Ronan and the remaining knights scattering before it. Then, the creature fell forward, collapsing onto the forest floor not a foot away from Kasumi and Yumeko with an impact that raised leaves and dust flying once more. It twitched, and was still.

Kasumi's gazed passed in between the fallen creature before her and the mage right in front of her for about two minutes. She seemed to be in the process of saying something, but no words passed through her mouth. Finally, she looked back at Yumeko and whispered, "Now that was something only a friend would have done."

Yume's grey eyes widened in surprise and shock. Then, her face lit up with genuine joy and relief.

She was shaken from the near-escape, the party was in chaos, and they were still taking Kasumi back to Nantosuela and possible death or imprisonment, but somehow, she couldn't put in words how important it was to her to hear those words from her friend.

"Thank you," she settled for whispering back. She placed her hand on Kasumi's and gripped it, hoping her smile would convey what her words couldn't.

Around them, the others were slowly picking themselves up and gathering back some semblance of order. Shizuko and Deirdre had come back out onto the path, the latter already crouched over one of the fallen knights with white light glowing between her palms. It seemed nothing, not even a troll, could shake her determined healing instinct.

Luckily, as far as Yumeko could tell as she cast her eyes over the scene, there seemed to be no serious injuries, other than the two knights that had been stunned. Alyce appeared to have hit her head on the tree and lost consciousness. Seth had hurried over to her and was even now gently shaking her by the shoulders and attempting to awake her; but as Yume watched, Deirdre moved over to lay a glowing hand on her forehead, and her eyes fluttered open.

Tamping back a giggle at the immediate spluttered tirade of troll-cursing (from Alyce), and wearied remonstrations (from Seth) that ensued, Yume turned her attention back to Kasumi.

"Well," she said resignedly. "Great start to the day, huh?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

West of the Athurian forest, the trees thinned out and gradually gave way to a flat expanse of green, fertile plain criss-crossed by rivers that had their roots in the mountains. In the north, Morzan's mountains continued in a swept-around arc, though unlike their eastern portion, these were icy and snow-capped year around.

In the south however, the fertile green cropland slowly faded to arid land. Laying sprawled across the land like a sleepy behemoth, this wide swathe of scorching heat and sand was named the Beaor desert. It was inhabited by only scattered nomadic tribes, and few dared venture into its dusty expanses, but beyond it lay the marshy swamp that was the kingdom of Dagda.

Dagda was a miracle of military prowess considering its size. The kingdom was not large, crammed into a corner of the continent and bordering the sea. Neither was it fertile, for the swamp that extended almost to the sea coast defied all attempts to be cultivated. Much like the kingdom that nestled in its bosom, it was a dark, foggy place, full of hidden secrets and unpleasant surprises.

One of those surprises was the capital of Dagda, Murkada.

If a traveller managed to make his way across the swampy flats and navigate the murky fens, he would come across a clustered settlement that seemed to rise from the mist like a wraith from Alanaodhian legend. Various buildings of contorted yet strangely appealing design rose above the ground, all seeking to reach as much of a height as possible to avoid the swamp fumes that choked the ground. Some tapered to points, some were squat and low slung, but all revolved in a concentric circle to embrace the centrepiece that was the Dagdan palace.

The palace itself was an architectural nightmare. It was a mess of contorted spires, twisted projections and outcrops that flowed and spiralled into arches, loops and balconies; all constructed out of dark marble that glistened in the faint sunbeams that alighted on the fens. Yet the whole form as a whole had a peculiarly contorted symmetry to it, as it overlooked the misty expanses of the swamp.

Inside the capital of Murkada, in the throne room in the castle, resided the Dagdan king. He was dark-skinned and had pointed ears like everyone else, though his piercing black eyes deviated from the usual drow green or hazel. Matching said eyes perfectly, long raven hair erupted from his scalp. He wore plain black robes, but flooded himself with jewels--earrings in his ears, an ornately carved bracelet on his left wrist, and necklaces around his neck, all gold or silver with jewels embedded in them. The only simple piece of jewellery was the silver band around his forehead with a black stone carved into the shape of a diamond placed right in the centre.

His crown, signifying him as the king of the lands.

He was not alone as he slouched over the arm rest of the throne he sat in. Five men, all dressed in black armour trimmed in gold, knelt in front of their king with heads bent low. "You may rise." His menacing voice ordered with a wave of his hand. As commanded, every man rose from the ground together. Looking around at all of them, he continued, "I have ordered you all here today to make a decision. We have waited long enough to fight with Athuria, and our strength has grown immensely. I believe the time has come for us to move against them decisively."

One of the generals raised his head at this. He was garbed in the same polished black carapace as the others, but unlike them, his skin was only lightly tanned and his hair a dark blonde. It stood out in the shadowed hall, seeming strangely incongruous with the dark panelled wainscot and tiled floor. To add to his unusual appearance, his slanted elven eyes were a clear blue-green.

"If I may, my King..." he began cautiously. "Athuria's strength should not be discounted. It is true that we have gained some victories against them on the desert border and have gained some ground, but we cannot hope to advance enough to approach further into the kingdom--"

"Do not question my abilities, Mark! If you were not skilled in battle, your insolence would long have gotten you killed." The king snapped at him, his dark glare not leaving him before he spoke again, "Does anyone wish to challenge my knowledge and abilities?" The others did nothing, nor said anything in response.

"Good, now go and gather your men together. I will call you all when we are ready to move out. You are dismissed." All the generals bowed together as turned to leave the throne room. However, one did not leave his presence as he watched the others leave.

With the closing of the door, the general finally spoke, "Sir, do you think it is wise to use these ferans so soon? What if they are not strong enough..." He fell into silence as he received the same glare Mark had just gotten.

"How many times must I tell you all that I know what I am doing? We have been breeding these ferans for two years now with the power of the bracelet, they are more than ready to be put to use. Besides..." The king softened his tone before continuing, "They are starting to get restless. We would be doing them a favour by giving them something to do."

As if providing an anti-climactic backdrop to his words, the sound of the throne room’s twin engraved doors slamming open echoed through the spacious room. Both the king and the remaining general swivelled to stare as a young drow in the olive-green livery of a page ran in. He stopped just short of the throne and bent over to place his hands on his knees, panting.

"King Balthazar," he said, when he had caught his breath. "The patrol sent to do a reconnaissance of Nantosuela has returned. Only one man came back alive, the others are all dead."

"Bring him in..." Balthazar ordered of the page, who simply nodded and ran back out. He continued speaking, facing no particular person in the room, "I want to see the man who could fail such a simple mission."

The twin doors opened once more, letting a band of pale light fall across the red carpet leading to the throne. Two armoured knights entered. Visors of dark glass covered their eyes, and halberds were clutched in their gauntleted hands. The man they ushered before them was garbed the same way, though his armour was considerably the worse for wear, displaying several cracks and fissures and missing the helm.

The knights stopped before the throne. One prodded the scout forward with the butt of his halberd, prompting the man to fall to his knees and bow his head deeply before the king. The scent of his fear was palpable.

"My king," he began haltingly. "As you requested, we attempted to approach Nantosuela by the mountains, on feranback. But we were attacked by a band of mercenaries the Athurians had hired to guard their outposts."

"You were attacked by mercenaries, were you?" Balthazar unfolded himself slowly from his throne, descending the few steps to the ground and gliding towards the kneeling soldier. "You lost five ferans and seventeen soldiers to a bunch of untrained nitwits?!"

With that, he reached out to the unprepared soldier with his right hand and grabbed his neck, lifting him off the ground. He now revealed the lone black bracelet that had been hidden under his robes to the general who watched this with a wary eye. "I will make sure you never allow this to happen again..." He grunted through clenched teeth as the said bracelet began to glow purple. Suddenly, the soldier began to gag in pain, clawing at the hand clutching his throat. At the same time, waves of energy seemed to radiate from the bracelet with a life of its own. After about two minutes of his struggling, the soldier fell limp in his grip.

His cold black eyes looked down at the dead soldier, as Balthazar let him drop to the floor. "Get this out of here," he said carelessly to the two knight who stood to attention before the throne. The two nodded and picked up the corpse, carrying him out quickly before their king decided to do anymore damage.

Finally, the king himself looked back at his general, a evil smirk growing on his face before stating, "I have a task for you. These mercenaries might actually be of use to us."