Ter’iol and Azdin. The only dark spaces in existence, the last haven for my kind, against those that would do us harm. We are the last, the only on this land. No, I would not say God forsaken, for it is the gods of others who have given them their victories over our dwindling race. In all the histories of various lands they rarely tell the story of the dark and powerful. Those who practice in the dark arts, forsaken by all. ************************************************************************** Chapter One She spun, her twin swords slashing and biting at the metal and flesh of her enemies. Their armor, years of magical studies and decades of crafting, was no match for her skill and weapons. “They may just bury me by numbers,” she thought grimly, her pale face set in a feral grimace. The knight’s face was blocked by a golden helmet set with Sisdiel, the holy metal of the Shnedae, but she could tell he was frustrated as she. She attempted a stab through yet another chest plate, but the armored man jumped out of the way. Unfortunately for him, the quick move put him off balance in his bulky armor, and as he scrambled, she put her knife through his heart and prepared for the next wave. The last of the soldiers stood grimly at the other side of the torn up room, glinting in the faint light coming through the windows on the ivory walls. In the center of the mob of soldiers stood Kain Vayz, illegitimate son of Gandr Fenx, the master of this castle, the one who put the curse on the girl. The boy was a hafling, son of Gandr, a lord of the Wawoal, and an enchantress of the Syndicate of Nymnid, one of the most powerful branches of the darkness population. He didn’t look it however with golden hair that glowed in the sunlight and sparkling blue eyes. He looked like a powerful Wawoal. “Well are you going to attack me or just stand there and stare?” She said with a cold smirk. “You know you could let me go, I am just a girl after all, and a lady. Isn’t your kind supposed to help us? Somehow I don’t think that slicing me up fits under that category.” “Ah I believe you are still under the impression that I consider you a human being. You may be female, but you are a soulless monster who kills just to amuse herself.” She winced at that one. She was no monster, and she took no pleasure out of hurting people. It stung especially to hear that coming out of his mouth, he who would enjoy watching her die a terrible death even though she had done nothing to him. “Funny thing for you to say… hafling.” Now it was his turn to wince. The soldiers looked at him in surprise. “It wasn’t common knowledge?” She called to him “Interesting.” “Just kill her.” He snarled at his men. They charged, swords swinging back and forth, what discernable features in their helms thick with rage. He watched with a cold stare as one by one, she cut down his men. “Ooh no more men to hide behind. I guess that just makes it you and me.” He watched her for a second his face unreadable then in a lightning fast motion unsheathed his sword and jumped at her his face a mask of fury. “You have done us great damage but I will finish this here and now!” He shouted, his golden voice echoing around the room. Velene smiled as she easily blocked his attack. The obsidian bracelet on her wrist, a flash of pain that got her attention. This signaled, the book had been stolen back, the girl rescued, and now… her exiting time. “Well… This has been a nice chat but it’s time to say goodbye. For now.” and with a grin and a puff of smoke, she was gone.
Chapter Two With a soft “whoosh” Velene appeared right outside the “throne room” of her master Lord Rionaquan. The two guards standing at the door looked her over, the buzz of their magical inspection making her head spin. “All clear”, one of them said coldly, and with a barely audible “creeeek” the doors opened inward, allowing her into the small undecorated room that served as the HQ of the entire building. The girl walked in, her footsteps, usually unnaturally soft echoing loudly through the place. She wanted her presence known to the one sitting regally in front of her. The dark cement walls and plain wooden floor could not disguise the aura of power that surrounded the man on the throne. For it was he who had kept the crumbling population of the Re’iot intact when the disaster struck and though he was but a simple lord, he commanded power and magic unrivaled by even the strongest of the Shnedae leaders. “Wow,” commented Velene with her usual smirk plastered on her face “I would have thought you would have dressed up the room a little what with the visiting royalty and all.” Lord Rionaquan glared down at the little figure standing before him, his thick black hair and beard making his appearance even more frightening. Velene however wasn’t fooled. They had been good friends for a while, and he was practically a father to her. She returned the death stare. A giggle interrupted their staring contest. They both looked in surprise to see the princess of the Re’iot standing in front of the door leading outwards to the rest of the underground hideout, her green eyes somehow glowing in the dim light. “Princess,” Velene sighed in relief, “you’re safe.” She giggled again, “Yes and thanks to your lovely distraction my beautiful book is safe too!” Velene gave her a stiff smile, turned around, and began to report to Rioquan. “Milord, things go better for the Shnedaes than we originally thought. They were able to throw over 20 soldiers dressed in that accursed metal of theirs, and that was just for me, a distraction! What I found even stranger was the fact that they sent that hafling Kain after me! I doubt they just wanted to get rid of him, he’s too valuable to lose at this point.” The man watched her as she reported, her silver eyes flashing frantically as she continued to tell of the strength of their enemies. “Well I’m glad I didn’t tell you before the mission then, you would have thrown a fit. We recently got a message from the Shnedae general. You know him.” “The one who’s son I killed by accident?” “Yes that one. Anyway, the Shnedaes said that they would stop their attempts at kidnapping the princess.” “For a price?” “STOP INTERRUPTING. Yes of course for a price.” “What was it?” “For some reason, they have gotten tired of failed kidnappings.” “The key word… Failed.” “Of course. Interrupt one more time and I won’t tell you until tomorrow, when everyone else gets to find out.” She shut her mouth with a snap “This is a price we refused to pay. It is very expensive, and they wouldn’t give us the reason for why they wanted it.” Velene nodded, guessing that they probably asked for Rionaquan’s son or someone similar. “They wanted a prisoner.” Velene nodded again pleased that she had guessed correctly. “As a prisoner of war, for some inconceivable reason they wanted one of our best agents, one who was pretty much useless for anything normal that they usually did to try and get information. An agent of the Rian Quan Clan would be excellent at resisting torture, not to mention another--“ “Oh just tell me the damn name already!” “ They asked for Velene Orsiko”
Chapter 3 After that ominous pronouncement, she could do nothing but stand in front of him, her face frozen in surprise. Nothing surprised her much anymore; she thought she had seen it all but apparently she hadn’t. “But how can they hope to convert me?” She said. She had control of her facial muscles once again, but the shock still colored her voice. “I have no soul, they have nothing to work with!” But inside her mind, her doubts made themselves known. “Have they come up with new technology? They used to need victims with souls, and no person wanted to part with theirs willingly, not even the hardiest Ma’ Uibo Warrior” she thought frantically to herself “though it was stripped from me at a young age, I was born with one… Maybe they can bring it back” The thought filled her with dread. A soul makes a person vulnerable, but without one, many people would perish. Starting around 10-12, people start storing emotions or states of the mind in them such as love, kindness, self preservation, free will and even can store memories. If they are stripped from them they lose whatever they stored which is why the loss of a soul can make you crazy, mindless, evil, and the list goes on. If it’s taken from you at a young age, it has no effect whatsoever except the fact that it is extremely painful. “The Ma’Uibo have figured out a way to store the souls and completely control a person with them, which is why they are under attack of course. Maybe the Shnedae have figured a way to bring souls back.” She said aloud. “Whether that’s true or not it’s irrelevant.” “Oh of course it’s irrelevant I have a bunch of Domaen damned, shining gold Shnedae bastards (One of them literally so) on my tail and I’m supposed to sit here like a good little girl and eat my vegetables when I could be kidnapped and possibly converted into a shiny ornamental ****!” “Do you want a mission or not!” “Yes I do” “Then sit down and shut up!” the lord roared, black eyes flashing in real anger at her for the first time that day. She mock cowered before him, her silver eyes flashing mischievously “Fine tell me my, oh so important mission.” “I’m warning you, it’s probably the most important thing you will ever do.” He warned, dead serious. “You must infiltrate the city of Irescetza. They are having a war rally. I need you to interrupt that and make an impression. Scare them, make them fear us, you’re good at that. Most importantly don’t get captured!” “Why is this city so important compared to the others.” “Even though you can tear through Sisdiel armor like its paper, not all of our forces can do that. Should Irescetza join the war, they will be able to quadruple the amount of armor they produce, Irescetza controls most of it.” “So in other words if I fail to scare them we all die?” “No they’re probably going to war regardless of what we do. This is just a last ditch effort.” “Oookay?” Velene kept her face carefully blank as she carefully looked him over. She was rarely sent on last ditch attempts, she was far too valuable as a fighter for them to waste her talents like that. “I wonder what he’s hiding from me…” She thought grimly. Rionaquan stared her straight in the face, his expression as devoid of emotion as hers. “You are dismissed. Get some sleep, you are leaving tomorrow.” With a low bow and and an “As you wish Milord.” she turned on her heel and strode out
Chapter 4 As soon as she was out of eyesight of the guards and out of range of their magic sensing weapons, she twisted the amethyst jewel of the only ring on her finger, and shuddered as she felt the cold tingle of the hiding shadow magic wash over her body. She waited for a couple seconds until she was completely invisible, then snuck back up into the throne room to hear what was said, for she had a nagging suspicion that the mission was not as it seemed. She quietly climbed up to the wall to the wooden posts stretching across the high ceiling and made herself comfortable. A little too comfortable in fact. She was tired from her last mission, and was dozing off when the door opened with a bang. She jumped and almost fell from her high perch overlooking the throne. “Milord,” the man standing almost directly below her bowed in a short and chopped motion, “I heard you were sending Vellie off on another mission right after her last one! Aren’t you pushing her a little hard?” “Riom” she thought with a slight internal sigh. He was the only one who insisted on using that stupid nickname, and being Rionaquan’s eldest son and heir, she couldn’t knife him for using it. He also looked out for her when he thought the lord was being too rough on her, which was occasionally helpful, but mostly annoying. He had his father’s black hair, but was clean shaven. He also had warm friendly eyes that looked vicious and disturbing when he was mad, mostly when he was fighting. He was easygoing, but when he wanted something badly enough, he got it. He also happened to be her best friend, one of the best fighters in the entire alliance of clans second only to her. “There’s a reason for it.” Lord Rionaquan sounded tired and old. “A reason that I haven’t told her about.” She perked up at that one, she had been expecting it but it still was a little surprised. “I told her that the Shnedaes were after her of course, and she had an adverse reaction like I expected. What I didn’t tell her is that we have a spy within our ranks. Someone the Shnedae threatened could take her out and drag her, even as powerful as she is, back to them. I sent her on that mission to give her something to do while you find that spy and take him or her out. Investigate the half bloods because it is unlikely they would have brought a pure blood to their service. We honestly can’t afford to lose her and if they do manage to convert her, despite in her soulless state, we’ll have much more to worry about that the Sisdiel armor.”
Chapter 5 Velene remained completely still as the father and son finished the conversation and walked out. She was completely numb from shock, surprise or horror, she did not know which. Finally, she began to defrost and quietly snuck out of the dark room. Her walk to her bedroom was uneventful, she saw no one until she almost slammed right into her maid as she walked through the flap that served as a door to her tent. The large spacious area couldn’t really be called a tent of course. The ceiling was high, around 15 ft. in the very middle and had a diameter of about 100 yards. The entire structure consisted of 4 rooms. The largest was her “sitting room” which is where she normally greeted guests. It was by far the fanciest with a brightly colored rug in the middle and a leather couch. In her “kitchen” was a fire pit, an “ice box” that used magic to keep food cold, and though she mostly ate with everyone else in the Mess Hall, a large table for guests. This was covered in all sorts of papers, battle gear and notebooks because it was very rarely used for eating. Leading off from the kitchen was her bedroom and weapon storage area. The bedroom was simple and clean, containing only a small bed and a desk that was even smaller. It was that bed that she immediately flopped down on, even though it was only three in the afternoon, and drifted off to sleep. And spurred on by her racing mind, she began to dream. Velene was standing in a tower much like the one she had battled Kain in, only this one had thick bars on the windows reinforced by magic. She spun around and realized that the room was completely devoid of anything that could help her. There was only a mattress and a pillow, both as soft as a cloud. She kept getting the sense that someone was watching her, but no matter how she turned, she couldn’t spot any more than a shadow at the very edge of her vision. “Get out here where I can see you, you coward!” She snapped as she continued to turn like a dog chasing its tail. Whatever it was started to laugh, and though the voice was handsome, the tone was not. Finally, she managed to spin fast enough so that she came face to face with the laughing fiend. She saw him stare in surprise his eyes huge in his face, and she realized she vaguely recognized him. She was about to speak when… She woke up with a gasp, in her quiet, empty bedroom in her tent. Not in a tower, but on real solid ground. She breathed a sigh of relief and quietly went outside to sit in the grass, think, and recover from her nightmare. What bothered her most about the dream was that she recognized the face, but couldn’t place it with a name. Despite the fact that this meant that someone managed to break through the shields around the fortress, after how much Lord Rionaquan was afraid for her she knew that she didn’t want to add to his stress by telling him about the breach. With a sigh, she went back into her tent, and upped the magic shields. As soon as the flap was completely fastened, a shadowy figure quietly stood up from where it was hiding behind the tent and crept away.
Chapter 6 Vilene was twisted in the throes of another violent nightmare, screaming threats and calling out for help when the her dark haired friend Javen walked in the room, his pale face floating in the dark space like a small lumpy moon. “Velene.” He hissed, trying to gently wake her up. He prodded her in the back of the head with his finger. “Velene,” he hissed again a little louder this time, “time to wake up we have to go soon.” Still no response from the thrashing girl. He sighed and got his knife ready. This time he leaned over her ear and shouted “Velene!” With a gasp she woke up, and still disoriented from her dream, she thought she was being attacked. Quickly Velene unsheathed her knife from the black belt she wore even in sleep and swung blindly at Javen. He blocked her knife easily but didn’t see her fist coming at his face. With a low grunt he went down and hit the ground with a bone jarring thump. Still half asleep Velene leaped out of bed and pinned him to the floor with her knife at his throat. She quickly recognized him and allowed him to sit up. “Good morning to you too.” He said with a sigh. “What a fine way to greet you friend.” “Sorry, sorry,” she mumbled her head still reeling, “I wasn’t thinking, I thought you were attacking me.” “It's fine, the sad part is when I say I’m used to it; it’s actually kind of true. Anyway eat breakfast, and be ready to go in an hour that’s when we’re leaving.” “What’s our transportation?” “Einoeps. Aren’t you excited?” “Ugh.”Einopes were smelly, drooling puffballs the size of horses. They were normally easy going creatures, but didn’t seem to like Velene all that much. The feeling was mutual. Somehow whenever she rode one, it always bucked her off, or attempted to. The especially infuriating part? They LOVED Javen. They would jump through fiery hoops for him if that’s what he needed, and they hated fire more than anything else in the world. After the hour had passed, she made her way to the stables where Javen was standing between two humungous Einoeps. These obviously weren’t the normal kind, they were the over 15 feet tall! One was coffee colored with big, warm, caramel eyes and the other was a deep blonde color that sparkled in the sun. This one’s eyes were a startling emerald green. “Um why are they bigger? Shouldn’t Einoeps only get to like 10 feet high?” Velene asked nervously. She was already imagining being thrown off. As if guessing her thoughts, Javen replied, “They’re supposed to be gentler than most of the Einoeps, if that’s possible.” Velene snorted at one. To her surprise the blonde one snorted right back at her. “They’re also more intelligent and are faster.” “Which one is mine?” “The blonde one, his name is Erusga.” “Great not only do I get to ride an Einoep, I get to ride a blonde Einoep!” The beast snorted again and lightly head butted her shoulder “That’s gonna hurt in the morning.” Velene groaned rubbing her arm. “So ready to mount them?” Javen said excitedly “I’ve never rode these ones before! With a sigh Velene replied, “No but if we want to get to Irescetza on time, we must get going.” She sighed again and climbed onto the saddle of Erusga. To her surprise, he didn’t attempt to throw her off. When she patted his head, he made a funny rumbling purring sound deep in his throat that vibrated throughout his entire body. Velene smiled and leaned over to whisper in the Einoep’s ear. “We might just get along.”
Chapter 7 Unlike the cool underdark of Ri’iot, the city of Irescetza was HOT. The sun beat down on the entire city like a hammer, and the roads were extremely dusty. By this time, Velene and Javen had met up with their other group members lead by another of Velene’s friends, Anek. Velene and Javen, both being dark haired had already covered it up with simple hats. Anek already had natural brown/gold hair and big greeny/blue eyes so he could pass through the city with almost no disguises needed. Velene kept glancing at Anek out of the corner of her eye. She hadn’t seen him in a long while since he belonged to a different clan (she wasn’t sure which one) and he only fought with them once in a while. The crowd in the streets was normally crazy huge, but since a war rally was about to start it was so thick that Velene had to threaten to knife a couple people before they would move. The feel of dirty sweaty bodies pressing in on her under the beating sun was starting to sicken her a little bit and she was relieved when they could turn to start ascending the tower which she was going to make her impression on. Just as she started to go under the entryway where the stairs started, she froze. Something was not right. There were only 2 guards on the top of that tower, and on the others there were at least 5. In fact, on the tower directly behind the platform that the speeches were to be made on there were 10 guards. Glancing again at the soldiers, she saw a magical glint of yellow come out from under his leather armor which he quickly covered up. Inwardly she gasped, “Sisdiel armor!” “This was set up,” she muttered to herself. She knew that even though Irescetza controlled most of the mines, the only thing they used the metal for was for decoration on the temples, various spells and the occasional staff. They NEVER used it for armor, and only the forces lead by Gandr Fenx knew how to make items such as those. ”Why would they give the information to Irescetza?” She wondered. And then it hit her. “It’s a trap, to catch me. And if it weren’t for that careless soldier I would have walked right into it!” She frantically motioned to Anek who frowned at her and then ran over when he realized something was wrong. “The guards have Sisdiel armor. They must be working with Fenx. This is a trap!” She told them grimly. “Grab the Einoeps we have to get out of here!” “Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?” Anek said, still a little skeptical “Yes!” “Well that ruins our plan a bit,” he remarked casually to someone who had materialized out of the crowd. He was tall and blond, and she didn’t recognize him. “Yeah I guess it… wait.” She looked at Anek closely for the first time that day. He didn’t have brown hair, it was blonde. His eyes were a beautiful sky blue. He looked a lot like… “Kane, Anek I should have guessed it.” She breathed. For it was him standing before her with a tranquilizer dart in hand was Kane Vayz!” “Now now.” He said coolly as she turned to run. “We didn’t spend 5 years getting me into that godforsaken clan of yours for you to just run away. Come quietly and I won’t have to use this.”
Chapter 8 She froze at that one, not sure what to do. Her eyes flickered back and forth like silver blurs in her skull, weighing the odds. Fight or flight because giving in was never an option. Javen had left her a couple miles from the city, and she had only Erusga now, and he could only be of use if she could get to him. So continuing on her original plan, she spun and sprinted towards an opening in the crowd. Kane had been expecting this however, and though she could outrun the wind, she could not out run a perfectly aimed tranquilizer dart. As she felt it hit her shoulder, the normally graceful girl stumbled and with a gasp, she fell and slid through the dirt. “You really don’t know do you.” Kane looked surprised as he examined her. “They told me you would run if you didn’t suspect anything more than my “betrayal”. You are supposed to be all knowing. They’re all shaking in their shoes that you’d have figured it out before it was time.” “Who’re “they”?” She mumbled. To her surprise, her metabolism was burning up the sleeping elixir rather quickly but she wasn’t about to let him know that. “Your council. We bargained with them that if they let us get you, we would withdraw from the war for a couple years.” For some reason he sounded almost… Bitter? Embarrassed, ashamed even? What was up with this? “They wouldn’t do that to me.” She said firmly, though doubt began to creep into the corners of her mind, “Lord Rionaquan…” “Didn’t know about it.” Kane cut her off brusquely. “He was out when the council took place. “But Riom… wait why are you telling me all this?” “Partly to keep you awake partly to get to the point. Riom wasn’t there; he was on the mission with you remember? And by the way, this mission wasn’t Rionaquan’s idea in the first place.” “It’s LORD Rionaquan to you.” She snapped at him “You are drowsy and your brain is working slowly from the sleeping elixir in the dart. Your reflexes are slower than usual and your weapons aren’t easily accessed from the position you’re in. To top it off your lying on the ground in front of me, you’re armed arch nemesis and you correct me on how to say my father’s worst enemy’s name. You a crazy child, yet you are a child that has an entire nation shaking in fear of your name.” “So it took betrayal by my own people to bring me down. How… pathetic and cowardly.” She growled at him. “For once… I agree with you. And that is why I’m going to let you go.” Velene rolled over in surprise, putting herself in an even more vulnerable position. Kane watched her slowly stand up and steady herself for she was still shaking. “Why are you doing this?” “This is not a deed worthy of the noble name of the house of Fenx. You are right when you say it is pathetic. I will not dirty my hands on such an unworthy mission.” Velene watched him for a moment then grinned at him. “There’s more to you than meets the eye… Hafling.” Kane winced, but not as much as he did the night in the tower “You have spared my life when you could have killed me. This is a debt that needs to be repaid. Get out of this city, run far far away and prepare yourself for the next time we meet, for when that happens one of us will die.” So with a final glance over her shoulder, Velene ran from the city, the commotion somehow unnoticed. And in one quick halt, she stopped running, for where did she have to go? And yes it is here this story, not her story ends. She will continue on, forever fighting that small girl with the silver eyes. But that my friends is a different tale for a different time. Ol Zhah Xunor It is done